Old Time Writers Had It Easy

Day 61

pre·rog·a·tive

prəˈräɡədiv/

noun

1. 1.

   a right or privilege exclusive to a particular individual or class.
2. 
   
   

   "it's my prerogative to turn off the television when I should be writing"

Writers in the 19th century had it easy. Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, Longfellow, Emerson, Thoreau, just to name a few. I don't mean they didn't have their hardships, most writers do. It gives us character and teaches perseverance. Through it all, great writers keep writing and rely on their experiences for subject, color and depth.

The reason I say these writers had it easy, was little or no distractions. They didn't have cable television with a thousand channels vying for their attention. They didn't have digital games with 3D graphics. Sports teams, concerts and movie theaters with 20 screens around every corner. They didn't have Imax and theme parks and on and on.

I'm sure at one time or another they had to exert their will to divert their attention away from watching the grass grow or watching the cows saunter from one field to another. To prevent being mesmerized while watching the paint dry. I know they had entertainment but it just wasn't as readily available or as abundant as it is today...

Uhhh. Something distracted me. I've lost my train of thought.

Oh, yeah.

I appreciate having the technology today that makes the act of writing easier. My laptop with spell check (essential) and a hard drive for storing the many pages it takes to convey a good story. It is so much easier to correct a spelling or rearrange the order of paragraphs when using a computer. It saves a lot of paper. Even submitting a manuscript for editing or printing can be done electronically. Any changes the editor requires can be accomplished in a snap without rewriting a whole page. Past authors probably would have love it also.

Today we have to set aside time to write. We have to ignore all of the distractions and concentrate on our writing.

When I weigh it out I like using the computer even amidst all the distractions, after all, if I want to write out a story on paper using antiquated long hand, cursive writing, like the old time writers, I still have that prerogative.

Until tomorrow,

Ken