Is The World Running Out Of Potential Writers?
A Deep And Concerning Question: Asked And Answered
It’s a question that has always been on my mind and will occasionally haunt me: Is the world running out of writers?
I’m not going to write an entire article that asks this question in an excessive amount of ways, so I’d like to come forth and just simply say… No. I don’t think that it is. If anything, I believe that the world has more inspiration to write about whatever any individual chooses to discuss than ever before.
With that being said, allow me to explain the rest of my opinion on this question.
Why Is This Even A Question?
I’ll admit that I’ve feared the thought of the art of writing being forgotten by our society for several years now. I previously had many visions that it was a possibility that the “social media era” would inevitably rise and everyone in the world would care less and less about reading and put more time and effort into videos, pictures, and soon would immediately shut down the idea of even touching an actual book or simply take the time out of their day to read an article on a blog.
The thought of my answer to this question being “no” didn’t really exist until just recently and I’ll tell you why I’ve now changed my mind.
A New Generation
The reason that I now believe our society is not running out of writers, or is doomed to forget about the craft of creating stories, is pretty easy to understand…
It’s not the fact that I believe this world is eventually going to fail at creating more talent — Not at all. Instead, the fact of the matter is that our society is paying far more attention to things like social media over books, videos over blogs, iPhones over journals, and audiobooks over pen and paper.
What I mean by this is that the world is actually FILLED with talent and potential. But society -in this day in age- often shows its talent in a much different way than the traditional writer. This can be controversial for some to hear, but then again, this is just my opinion.
I may be only nineteen years of age, but for some reason, I’m old fashioned. What can I say? When I think about the word “writer”, my brain will immediately draw its attention to hardcover novels, libraries, sophistication, and a true raw passion for the art. Many writers that I’ve come across today -especially at my age- will often care more about the modern-day style of writing; which is why I love blogging on Medium.
If I believe that the world is too far into watching the computer screens instead of the book shelves, then by that logic, I’m more likely to catch our society’s attention by online blogging. The more I write, the more I’d like to inspire future writers, motivate anyone I can, and even learn a thing or two from others at all times.
With having an attraction to the “old-fashioned” generation, I’m able to explain why I tend to fit in with the original writers somewhat more than I would to the writers that our world offers today. This reason is simply because I find that the tools we use in today’s generation can sometimes be quite distracting.
This is where you might understand my answer to the main question...
Getting Distracted In Today’s Society
I love reading from the hardcover books instead of a cell phone because I’m less likely to find myself getting distracted or diverted to something irrelevant. The book in my hand doesn’t offer thousands of different apps that could lead me into forgetting what I was reading in the first place. A phone or laptop can easily transition your thinking in a matter of seconds.
This was a common reason for me to believe that the world may soon ditch the books and pay more attention to something unrelated to the task at hand, leaving our variety of potential writers to plummet. If we as writers allow ourselves to get distracted so easily, we’ll never be able to sit down and focus long and hard enough to manifest in the idea of what we write or even read.
Growing up in the “social-media generation” has easily been the most difficult thing to do when becoming a new writer. In order for myself to get my job done, I MUST be able to know the difference between productivity and pleasure. Whatever I read, or whatever I write, I make sure to use my full and undivided attention to complete what I’ve planned to accomplish. It’s something that I fear will happen to many writers that choose today’s sources over the traditional manner.
Why We Still Have Potential
This is where I explain why I believe that the world is not doomed to lack in new writers. Once again, I believe that we indeed have the most inspiration and potential for the success of writers than ever before.
Each God-given day of our lives is yet another day of history. More experience is now in the books (or computer), more knowledge is learned, and more potential is created by our growing amount of talent that chooses to aspire others into observing what it truly means to be a real writer.
Of course, our generation today gives countless new ways to grow a following and even provide an incredible amount of ways to present your work. I don’t despise today’s methods of creating new writers. I can only hope that our different mechanisms of different writers will only expand the number of talent that our future holds. If you feel that you are able work better on social media to display your talents, I encourage you to do what feels right for you.
I’ve stressed this many times before and I continue to stand by it: I can’t personally tell you what works best for you. I can only motivate you and inspire you to do what I believe could possibly help any individual in their near future. If I can continue to do this, I believe I’ve done my job.
However, if you do decide to work with social media, I suggest that you pay more attention to staying productive, and not become distracted by what the world-wide-web offers on a daily basis.
Put in the work. Don’t get distracted. Continue to prosper. Our world needs it.
Good luck and thanks for reading!
Best wishes! — Logan Tucker
