I freakin' LOVE the Internet. If I'd had to go to a library to
research everything I looked at yesterday, I'd still be there. As it is,
I can get diagrams and maps, ethnic names and their meanings, a recipe
for damn near anything, along with the name of those nifty little clips
that rock climbers use--not to mention the hand signals used in dog
training.
Why do I need to know all of these things?
Well, when you find yourself writing about things you don't know
firsthand or
can't make up off the top of your head, you have to do some research. And whether you hate it or love it, Google is an incredible time-saver.
Nora Roberts talks about the days when she used a manual typewriter and
carbon paper, but I'd be willing to bet that most writers would give up their word processors before they'd give up the wealth of information at their fingertips.
Nah. I don't want to give up either one, particularly since I'm a mediocre typist, or whatever it is you call people who do that these days. There are times when I can't spell a word correctly to save my life--or hit the right keys. I love my spellchecker and my grammar checker--although I find that little green squiggly line much easier to ignore than the red one. I love autocorrect, but only up to a point. My iTouch let me down when I went shopping for urad dal on Tuesday. Not having any idea what "urad" meant, my Touch corrected it to read "Yard dal." Needless to say, the guy at the international grocery had never heard of it and actually recommended the urad dal. Stupid me, I tried for something that seemed more familiar and wound up with Toor dal, which is perfectly good stuff, I'm sure, but not exactly what I was after.
I'm rambling again, and Budley is here with the teriyaki chicken, crab rangoons, and fried rice. At least I know what that is.
I'll be starting another goodie bag giveaway tomorrow. The paranormal bag has already been won, which leaves the bags that are predominately historical and contemporary . Be sure to stop in and post a comment for your chance to win!
I'm with you on this one. I love Google for research and everything. I too, can't navigate around my key board or keypad very well. Auto correct gives me headaches at times. I have no idea what you were shopping for? But I know what Budley brought you for Dinner. And it sounded good. I hope I can get a gift bag this time around. LOL!!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on the usefulness of the Internet. It has made research for my dissertation immensely feasible. I could not imagine having to go the library every time I needed to find that one article to support a single statement in one of my sections. Thank goodness for Google Scholar!! Hope dinner was delish!
ReplyDeleteI use the internet every day in my job. I'm a database administrator, and whenever I run into a prickly problem, the odds are someone else had it first and the solution is in a forum online.
ReplyDeleteI also use it for genealogy research. My local library doesn't have the data, but they have huge databases available, many for free, on the internet.
Wow,another contest.You are very generous.I love reading your books. I am on your mailing list,and i have liked your Facebook page.
ReplyDelete