Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

Times have changed. In the past, there was a select part of the population who wanted to become writers, authors, columnists, and reporters, etc, but today, with the Internet and cell phones, and apps like Facebook, Twitter, and many others, everyone is writing. Some good stuff and some not so good stuff. Many of us who read all this have a tendency to overlook grammar and spelling mistakes. Even those who use things like grammar and spell checkers find that then miss things or try to insert things we did not mean to say. Some of them turn out to be funny or embarrassing.

If you are like me, I use tools for my writing. First, I use Google Docs, and when I come to a word I am not sure of the spelling. I use voice typing to make sure it is right. Next, when I am done with the document, I copy and paste it into my spell and grammar checker of choice. Next, I have the computer read it to me to see if it sounds right. Now, I don’t do this for short things I write, like a post on Facebook or Twitter, so I end up making mistakes like others. In the past, it was like having egg on your face, but now, it seems like we all just look away.

I read a lot of stuff on the Internet that I find has mistakes in grammar and spelling. I record stuff into audios for others to listen to, and I used to copy and paste on to my blog and make corrections, but that became time consuming, and I stopped doing this. Now I just go to the website and record it as is. 

The reason I became a writer and share other writings is because I want to voice my opinion and share my beliefs. I believe that is the reason most people write. Another reason people write more nowadays is because writing is much easier today because of technology. 

My wife and I were talking this morning about how things changed. We say that technology has made things much easier for us, but if you lived back in the 1950’s you might not feel this way. Think back to when we only had typewriters and printing presses. Cameras with film, no Internet, no smart phones, just dial phones with party-lines. I have to ask, has things gotten better or has it made us lazy.

When it comes to speed, and I am not just talking about automobiles, but microwaves and everything else that makes things faster. We live in a fast-paced world. We need to slow down and smell the roses. Life goes by fast enough without us making things faster. I think my wife and I feel the fifties seem better, because life was a lot slower back then, and of course we were just kids without all the troubles we have nowadays. 

Getting back to the subject of writing. We also have voice typing, but I don’t really like it. I learned to type when I was in my forties and I like it. When I type, it gives me time to think about what I was to say. I never mastered typing on a cellphone. I know some are great at it, but my fingers don’t move fast on a phone, but give me a good keyboard and they just fly. I think this just comes from practice. 

Moving on to the next step in writing. If you write, you want someone to read what you write. That is where self publishing comes in. When I started writing, I started publishing on Amazon KDP, and Google Book. After many years of writing and publishing, one day out of the blue, I got an email from KDP, telling me that I violated one of their rules, and they deleted my account and all my books. I wrote to them many times asking what rule I broke and when I did it, but they never got back with me to answer any of my questions so I could defend myself. What a waste of time and money, not to mention the royalties I have lost. All my books are still on Google Books, so it wasn’t a total loss. 

Now the next step was to create audio books. If you want a larger audience, this is the next step you need to take. With the technology we have today, this is easy to do. I use Linux for an operating system on my computer, but use some Windows programs to do this. I have a blog where I write articles and have the Edge Browser read them out loud. Then I use Open Broadcast Software (OBS) to record the audio, video, and upload them to my YouTube Channel. (If you are listening to this on my channel, then you know what I am talking about, and if you are reading this on my blog, then you are seeing what I mean.)

The subject

Of course, you need a subject to write about. No matter what you write about, you need a suitable subject to attract people to want to read or listen to what you have written if in audio format. They always say, stick to the subject, but you can wander away somewhat, but don’t go too far off topic. 

There is one real problem today that affects many of us, and that is censorship. There are so many platforms on the Internet that are censoring what we put out here by either removing it or blocking it, or even removing us from the platform. I believe there is an underlying reason for all of this, but I will not get into that in this article. Sometimes we have to be careful about what we write if we are going to use these platforms. If you have something you want to say that would get you in trouble on one platform, use one that this will not happen on. This way you will get your point out there, on the Internet, that is.

Hope you enjoyed what I had to say about all you writers. Keep on truckin, or maybe I should say Keep on Writin.

Irv Risch