These Wires, They Connect Me

The other day I was speaking with some friends and we casually got onto the topic of being a writer as a profession. One of them candidly spoke, "That's like becoming an astronaut". Meaning that it's next to impossible. Of course that is how I thought for a long time. There is an attractive logic to it. A sense of cynicism that forces you to defeat yourself before you even get started. It's writer's blocks evil twin brother.

If we talked fifty to hundred years ago then I would have certainly agreed. Times have changed a bit since the roaring twenties, however. The internet age, like a double edged sword, has provided the ability for for thousands to write, publish, and get recognized. The other side of this is that it creates a heavy amount of competition while watering down the professionalism of the field. In effect the internet has made writers a dime a dozen.

I dare not get into a silly, trite argument about whether the internet is a curse or a blessing. I'll let the other one hundred thousand writers fight over that one. It is certain that the internet has accomplished one thing, which is create more egomaniacs and narcissists. As one article I read proclaimed, "Everyone has become a star". The pessimist inside me retorts, "In their own minds".

Certainly, there are those wonderfully delightful success stories of the stay at home mom that used Google Ads to become a millionaire through her blog. "You can too!" they declare. If this were true, of course, then everyone would have been millionaires by now. There is only so much to go around. Competition weeds out the weaklings struggling to make a dollar, while the dominant writers remain supreme. Even within a free for all system that the internet has provided, humanity must create something that divides and conquers.

The internet has opened the door into a completely new wonderland. Journey wisely.