Techno Killer, Qu'est-ce que c'est? #IWSG
It's the first Wednesday of the month, time for another round of posts for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, founded by Alex J. Cavannaugh. Click on either of those links to see whassup with other insecure writers. The malfunction I'm having this months is...technology.
One of the reasons I chose to set Three Daves in the 1980s was because I didn't want to have to deal with modern technology. So that novel is purposely dated. But my WIP is set in current times, and I'd rather not have it feel out of date for at least a decade or so, but at the rate technology is advancing, I'm afraid the manuscript might become technologically obsolete before I even finish the second draft.
I dealt with this issue in Divine Temptation by minimizing the use of technology and keeping any references very general, but this new one is an office romance, so it's not quite as easy to avoid. I've got the MC using a laptop to pull up spreadsheets and update a PowerPoint presentation, and I wonder...should she be using a tablet? Can you do spreadsheets on a tablet? And will anybody be using PowerPoint in a couple of years? Does anyone use it now? (Please forgive my ignorance---I haven't worked in a real office since the 1990s, and the place I work now is in the land where time stands still.)
And what about texting? I hear talk of this newfangled talk-to-type, so will having my character wear texting gloves be old school in 2015?
One of the reasons I chose to set Three Daves in the 1980s was because I didn't want to have to deal with modern technology. So that novel is purposely dated. But my WIP is set in current times, and I'd rather not have it feel out of date for at least a decade or so, but at the rate technology is advancing, I'm afraid the manuscript might become technologically obsolete before I even finish the second draft.
I dealt with this issue in Divine Temptation by minimizing the use of technology and keeping any references very general, but this new one is an office romance, so it's not quite as easy to avoid. I've got the MC using a laptop to pull up spreadsheets and update a PowerPoint presentation, and I wonder...should she be using a tablet? Can you do spreadsheets on a tablet? And will anybody be using PowerPoint in a couple of years? Does anyone use it now? (Please forgive my ignorance---I haven't worked in a real office since the 1990s, and the place I work now is in the land where time stands still.)
And what about texting? I hear talk of this newfangled talk-to-type, so will having my character wear texting gloves be old school in 2015?
Help me techno-soothsayers!
Comments
Fiction from hundreds of years ago can have timeless plots because of the way the reader can connect to the characters. It's the same way with all fiction, whether it was written today, five years ago, or fifty years ago, and regardless of how "current" and "modern" its background setting is. I try to focus on the characters -- they're what drives the story.
I just bought the Microsoft Surface, which is a combined laptop/tablet that comes loaded with Office. So it is possible to do spreadsheets and powerpoint on a tablet, but I'm thinking laptops will be around for a while. Maybe your character could use an ultra-light laptop?
No sooner do you master the latest gadgets, then a new one replaces it...
Writer In Transit
Love,
Janie
if you are writing now time, use now stuff. no telling wat new gadget will come out next, but smaller, faster, easier is the trend driving inventions... i use powerpoint all the time but others may not. you need advice from a young techie!
I want to hear all about it when I get back to Chicago!
I have dated stuff in my books too, but that can easily be changed if the technology does. Stick with anything "I" … I don't think they'll be changing that symbol anytime soon.