This is a quick post today, but I read a Word Craft article in the Wall Street Journal that caught my eye. In it, author Daniel Silva discusses his research. He's fortunate to be able to actually travel to The Vatican, to Jerusalem, and across the Golan Heights to write authentic scenes. However, he acknowledges how easy it is to click on the Internet and capture a lot of atmosphere from pictures and travel commentary.
In his actual stories, "I find myself trying to keep technology at bay ...whenever possible, I focus on the human being using the technology rather than on the technology itself."
He goes on to find electronic marvels "intrusive to real-life human interactions." Mr.Silva writes in longhand on yellow legal pads. Only after sentences are fully formed does he transfer his work to the computer. He appreciates his ebook sales, but "in the back of my mind, I wonder whether a book is still a book, if it is not a book."
Food for thought, as he laughs that he's "receding in time. Perhaps quill and ink soon."
Fernweh
1 week ago
Interesting commentaries!
ReplyDeleteI've been to Jerusalem and Golan Heights. It's much easier to write about places you've actually visited than to just do research on them.