What did word processing do to writing?
Word processing software (like Microsoft Word) was a major change to the activity of writing. In early editions of On Writing Well, William Zinsser insistently convinces the reader to embrace word processors because they allow multiple rounds of reorganising, rewriting and editing efficiently.
Science fiction writers like Asimov were the first to embrace word processors, while others feared that the activity of writing was under threat.
In school, I still wrote on paper. We were able to get to the end of our essays within an hour. Derridaās caution: āyou get to thinking that you can go on revising foreverā summarises the difficulty of finishing writing in a word processor.
When writing on a word processor, if Iām stuck I instinctively go back to the beginning of my text and start reading it as if this seventh (true count for this piece) reread and edit is worth doing. If I was writing on paper, I would make a plan for my paragraphs and then just focus on the paragraph level. I would also be less ambitious with my paragraphing, I would keep it quite simple. I would go back to read and edit at most twice and I would make much smaller edits.
While word processors encouraged perfectionism, they also made the barrier to start extremely low. No paper or space on the table wasted, just another false start buried somewhere in a computer. This made us less careful about what is worth writing and too careful about how to edit it.
My PhD is stalled by word-processor-perfectionism. What writing of yours do you need to edit?