It occurred to me recently that stories aren’t flat, they are round. They’re 3D images of a world and its inhabitants, a rich, deep well of the human consciousness.
Image by dlanor smada via Flickr
We read the words and a whole fictional reality forms and draws us into its orbit. All things on Earth that exist in the human mind can be written about and shared and I’ve seen more original flash fiction on the internet recently than I ever knew was out there which just shows me that there are more writers than ever even in this age of technology.
Images can pop out at us in the cinemas, stories can be in surround sound or smell-o-vision, so how can a simple book compare to such a sensory experience?
That’s easy. They compare by, being 3-Dimensional all by themselves. Fiction and poetry whet the imagination, they help you imagine the sensory experience of the story without needing real sensory information to do so.
Image by The Retronaut via Flickr
Many people fear the demise of print and the shift to the internet, but I don’t know. Books still sell. They still go into print and people still have an interest in reading and still care about their favourite stories. A part of me has begun to wonder if people will fall out of love with technology. I don’t think it will ever go away and go back completely but maybe there’ll be some sort of reversal.
I still, personally, think that there’s something wonderful about following a protagonist on their journey. We weave through the solid, black words and find characters that can come to life, characters that impact the collective consciousness of our cultures and teach us more about ourselves.
We all grow up surrounded by stories in one form or another and I believe that no matter how technology changes the way we read, that somewhere, some lone writer will set of a spark with their fiction and bring a nations imagination to life.
Maybe writing is an eternal spark, one that never fades from humanity.
Related articles
Image by Gnal via Flickr
- How Deep Is Your Flash Fiction? (pittsburghflashfictiongazette.com)
- Flash Fiction Just The Way You Like It (pittsburghflashfictiongazette.com)
- Blogging: 75 Readers Every Day (pittsburghflashfictiongazette.com)
- Do You Have Questions About Writing Flash Fiction? (pittsburghflashfictiongazette.com)
- Flash Fiction Challenge: Teeth (unsanityfiles.wordpress.com)
- Flash Fiction Friday – 19 August 2011 (ourchangingviews.wordpress.com)
- The New Frontier Of The Flash Fiction Story (pittsburghflashfictiongazette.com)
bardicblogger 
Writing is an eternal spark. The technology is just about distribution. In other words, I totally agree with what you say in this article. Rock on!
Thanks! 🙂