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@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe

2026-09-29 02:21 UTC

#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2026.09.28 — Could you work without the [I]nternet? What would change? I wrote using a computer from 1975 through 1997—though the early years were timeshare—without the aid of the Internet. Spellcheckers and grammar checkers appeared well before they became Internet-based, though I have hardcopy (remember books?) dictionaries, reverse dictionaries, spell-check books, and thesauri. I do have encyclopedias of science, engineering, and other knowledge lookup books, but realistically, research without a good librarian would be very much more difficult without the Internet, and would have taken days instead of minutes. I look up a lot of things. Writing my Mars-colonization novel would have been very difficult without being able to look up facts, photos, a discussions at the time of need. Moreover, I would not have written it at all, since the feminist story is based on a #writever month of feminist prompts—31 of them, one for each chapter—posted on Mastodon. I am thankful for the Internet. [Author retains copyright (c)2026 R.S.] #BoostingIsSharing #gender #fiction #writer #author #writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers #RSdiscussion #RSstory #RSMarsNeededWomen

Replies (1)

  • @peterrenshaw@ioc.exchange 2026-09-29 05:00

    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe “research without a good librarian would be very much more difficult without the Internet, and would have taken days instead of minutes.” I trained in information gathering in this era. Government data in print form; Newspapers & magazines; Visits to libraries, phone calls; Site surveys; Photography; Computer printouts. You name, I had to source it. This analogue style of intelligence is now called ‘open source’. The gold was often human sourced, pointers iv you like to other sources. The unspoken rule was verification and ground truth.

    Open ##4891066