Writing Roles: Print vs. Internet Writers

The other day, I alluded briefly to the idea that Internet writers have to do more than just write.  I think it’s worth taking some time to think about all of the different hats that writers wear, and how those hats fit into the print writing vs. Internet writing discussion.

Writer

photo credit: Steve Wampler 

 
What tools do you use to write?

Every writer, of course, writes.  But does that role differ from Print to Internet writing?  I think it does, although the differences are often more subtle.  Print writers and Internet writers use the same tools.  They use the same word processors and the same research materials.  There are, I think, some things that the Internet writer has to contend with that are lost on the print writer. 

The Internet writer has to be concerned, to some degree, about Search Engine Optimization.  Right or wrong, SEO techniques increase readers, which increases revenue.  The trick is to use SEO techniques while maintaining a high standard of readability and writing.  The minute that your Internet writing looks like it is Search Engine Optimized, you lose readers.

The Internet writer also, for the most part, has to be more concerned about the community and the larger conversation.  Print writers need to know what the meta-talk is in their discipline, but Internet writers need to live and breathe it if they are to be competitive.

Editor

Every writer has to be part editor.  To get a submission accepted for print publication, you’ve got to have a decent mastery of the rules of the language.  For the Internet writer, however, this role is intensified.  One of the points Skellie made in the article I discuss here was that Internet writers would rarely pass muster in print, in terms of editing.  But that’s the point: print writers have paid editors whose only job is to edit.  Internet writers have lots of other things to do, and editing is one part, albeit an important one.

Publisher

photo credit: Subspace

How do you turn THIS into a published novel?

Sure, you can self-publish in the print world.  There’s even the possibility that you’d be better of doing it, in some ways.  But the vast majority of print writers don’t self-publish.  The publishing industry knows what they’re doing, for the most part, in terms of typesetting, binding, marketing and distribution.  Internet writers, on the other hand, have to be concerned with different publishing issues.  They have to be able to use HTML, or have some skills in web design.  They need to know how to market their writing (really a different role, but we’ll include it here as it is the publisher that fills this role in print).  Internet writers also need to choose from a number of publishing formats, from web sites to blogs to eBooks.  In print, the writer may have input on some of these issues but he’s clearly not in control of them.

Business Owner

Quite a bit has been said, in the comments on this series, about how Internet writers need to have more business skills than print writers.  Both sorts, of course, need business skills.  But who needs to be more adept at business today:  Stephen King or Darren Rowse of Problogger.net?  King’s royalties will carry him for decades;  Darren’s paychecks could, in theory, fizzle out with the next great technology trend.  If Darren doesn’t have the business skills to adapt to a changing market, he’s screwed.

So, what else?  What other roles do Internet writers have to fill that print writers don’t?

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