The Digital Revolution— Not an End, but a Means

 This post was originally published on a personal blog on October 18th, but I thought it was still relevant here.


At the SCBWI Southern Breeze WIK conference this weekend, I had the great pleasure of attending four truly relevant workshops.  One presentation, in particular, altered the course of a significant grudge I have held against e-readers and tablets.  I'm no luddite, but some things are just sacred.   Rubin Pfeffer, former Senior VP of children's publishing at  S&S and currently an agent at East/West Literary Agency, gave the specter of E-Publishing a whole new look and eased some of my anxiety that I may have missed my chance to publish the way I had always dreamed—as a real, paper and binding book.

He started by taking us through the development of media through history, from radio to film to television to the internet, and pointed out that while technology has changed, none of these vehicles for creativity has gone into extinction.  To the contrary, such revolutions have brought about innovations that have not only created enormous opportunity but expanded the media in ways that reach an even broader audience.  With e-books, enhanced e-books, and apps, the possibilities are staggering.

I know, I know.  At first I felt that technology cheapened our enterprise, that it somehow denigrated the sanctity of the book.  I still feel a little twinge of that pain, but I truly believe that the book as we know it will not die, not completely.  The way we publish in general, however, will definitely change.  Contracts, marketing, development.  The business model simply must change.

As I listened to Mr. Pfeffer describe how the new technology is evolving and what implications it has for our creativity, I started thinking of all the new possibilities and mourned the fading biblio-empire a little bit less.  Change is difficult...and inevitable.  We will all go through some growing pains, but I hope they will be truly growing pains.  That we will stretch ourselves a  little more and seize the opportunity to connect with our audience in ways that will enrich their relationship with literature and maybe even whet their appetite for more.

It will not be long before the number of e-books sold outpaces the traditional paper book, but that does not mean an end to good books.  Technology is simply a means by which we can share our stories with even more readers.  If their eyes are glued to a glowing screen and their fingers agile at finessing a touch pad, let is meet them where they are, where we can engage them in a variety of ways.

I can imagine the terror that those first screen actors felt when silent movies gave way to the talkies.  Some embraced the revolution and honed a new side of their craft, while others slinked away into obscurity.  Think of how much richer the experience is, how those who embraced it discovered a new voice.  I will always cherish my romantic ideal and dream of holding that beautiful hard-bound book in my hands, but I will also relish the knowledge that my story is in the hands of the young people for whom I wrote it, in whatever way it reaches them.

I would rather have my kids' eyes locked on a screen that leads them through a path of beautifully sculpted words and into challenging revelations than one that dulls their mind and entrances them with the likes of a giggling sponge or lowers them into the mire of some alternate universe that claims to be "reality tv."

Proposals — A Road Map for Learning

Several undergraduate students have come through the Writing Realized labs this week asking the big question, "How do I write a research proposal?"  Professors in the social and applied sciences will be well-versed in the basic components of a research proposal because they spent several years in graduate school learning how and practicing that skill.  Undergraduates, on the other hand, are just getting their feet wet, even at the senior level.  These students are just learning how to dissect journal articles for things like independent and dependent variables, methodologies, and statistical significance.

Now you give them a topic, or allow them to choose one, and tell them, "Write a proposal."  That's it.  that's all the direction they have.  Holy cow!  What do they do now?  If they look up information on writing a proposal or use the examples they have explored for your class, they see the list of basic components and choke.  "Do I need a section on methodologies?  Am I supposed to do an experiment?  Do I need to have null hypothesis or an operational alternative? (psst...what are those?)" 

It is easy to forget how overwhelming such a task can be for beginners, especially if they don't know if they are writing a "concept" proposal or an applied research proposal. 

It all comes back to the instructor writing the assignment well.  If you do not give your students specific information, they cannot give you what you want.  They all have the basic idea of a literature review by now.  But what separates a proposal from a literature review?  Many of your students cannot answer that.  When you tell them to "write a proposal," what exactly are you expecting of them?

The Writing Specialists don't have those kinds of answers. And the professor cannot assume that the "ideal structure of a proposal" has been taught to undergraduates even if they are in your senior seminar.  When it comes to a concept proposal, some of the specifics are particular to the professor or to the department.

A proposal is an amazing opportunity for students to learn not only about the content, but about how they think.  Give them the tools to guide that thinking to a productive end.  This is where the students learn about research, about ideas, about the impact of exploration and writing to learn as well as finally formulating an interesting perspective on an issue.  That is the goal, right?

So I will offer a few suggestions:

• If your department expects students to write specific types of proposals, put together some guidelines and examples and post them on a department website or wiki.  This would give students a location for important information as well as lend some consistency to departmental expectations.
• Give your students a hand-out that explains what is expected for the assignment.  You might list necessary headings, length, required components, etc.
• Forward your assignment to the Writing Specialists in the Writing Realized labs so they can better assist your students.

Remember that your students are here to learn.  They have a destination in mind, but it is up to the professionals to help them chart their course and collect what they need to arrive there safely. Give them a road map.  They still have to fill the tank with gas, follow directions, and take in all the sights on the way there.  Sure, they may have to fix a flat tire somewhere along the way, but at least they will know where they are supposed to go.