I’m quoting the following from a piece by Andrew Davis in Publishing Executive. He makes the point that just because there is more information available, does not mean that one can consumer more.
Now why didn’t I think of that!
An average of 17 webpages are published every single second. In the time it takes you to read this article 4,080 new webpages will be indexed, promoted, optimized, and set free on the world wide web. Every new article we publish contributes to information overload.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t offer a solution. He merely comments as follows:
I want you to challenge your team to create content your audience actually WANTS to consume. I want you to challenge the team to make an appointment with a specific audience on a regular basis with a piece of formatted content designed to drive value for the audience. Challenge your team to combat information overload.
Hard to argue with what he says, but it seems somewhat general to me. Where a writer is concerned, I suspect the solution is to ration input drastically—and write less but better.
Perhaps the writer of the future will merely meditate about writing. All roads lead to Zen.
I’m absolutely not a believer in multi-tasking. Though I love the radio, I switch it off when I’m really focused on writing—and am not yet in the clutches of a smartphone. But e-mail input remains a problem.
In fact, one could make a reasonable case that a fundamental cause of Congress’s current dysfunctionality isn’t just the Civil War being fought all over again (think about it) but the inability of both Senators and Representatives to focus. After all, they mostly don’t even read the bills they vote for.
Who would have thought it would be Facebook, and similar, that would be the cause of this Great Nation’s defeat? And we all thought it would be the Chinese except air pollution is so bad over there they can’t even see where they’re going. Why do you think they’re checking out the moon? True, there is no air—but at least they can see. But can they all fit?
But surely you’re joking, Mr. O’Reilly?
I’m far from sure I am.
I’m reminded of a great scene from a lesser known (but terrific) 1961 Billy Wilder movie, ONE, TWO, THREE! In it, Horst Buchholz is tortured to breaking point by the East Germans by having Itsy Bitzy Teenie Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini played at him endlessly.
I guess I had better Tweet that. Being an author isn’t about writing these days. It’s about building your Social Media platform as high as you can.
And then you can jump! And you’ll want to!
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