In The Skin Of A Writer: Closing Words

One answer might be that they won't. Technology may change, but the elements of a story have remained the same since Aristotle's Poetics. Depth in a writer's work stems from life experience, explains Bates, and it's not like there is a specific age when writers peak. Technology even provides benefits by allowing research to be done online, for example.

The true challenge for writers, she says, is balancing the dichotomy that writing is a solitary, lonely act, yet demands a foundation of activity, of interaction. Part of that, she advises, should include travelling, which she calls the "human experience." A change in location can affect us in "unpredictable and qualitative" ways.

Bates followed her own advice when she took a sojourn away from Toronto to the country with her husband: "It was his dream, and being a writer is a job that location doesn't matter." Toronto still feels like home, she says, but "there's something romantic about moving to a country property." There's another advantage to being outside the city: writing without distraction. Memory already has its tentative release date of 2010, and Bates is half-joking when she puts extra stress on the word "tentative."

For first-time author Terry Fallis, time is also ticking. While he had years to plan and write The Best Laid Plans, there will be more pressure to get his second book completed quicker. "I got unexpected recognition [for Plans] and now there's a higher expectation."

How will he battle the sophomore jinx? By being a better writer, he says: "The first time around I learned how to write a novel, so this time I can move into outlining and writing quicker." He's also listening to what his readers want: his next project will be a sequel to Plans.

It's part of building an audience, says Fallis. He is proud to have developed a relationship with his readership. For example, when he was going through the process of self-publishing, he was told by editors to remove journal entries written by a secondary character that concluded each chapter from the book. Fallis felt they were an essential part of the story, so he asked on his blog and podcast what his audience thought. The readers overwhelmingly supported the epistolary caps, validating the author's vision. The entries stayed in the book.

Hadn't Fallis ever worried that providing free podcasts of the book before it was published would cannibalize his sales? "No," he says firmly. "Look at Scott Sigler. He's a proven model: he gave his books away to build an audience. I believe readers will still want a hard copy of a book they loved." In fact, Fallis has covered his bases in how Plans is distributed: the book is available in hardcover, softcover, podcast, and electronic versions.

The acceptance of electronic versions of books has been slow, but has started to pick up speed with the release of e-reader Amazon Kindle in the United States (and soon the U.K.). The Kindle has received generally positive reviews and is drawing comparisons to the iPod; the Kindle, so the idea goes, might change reading the way the iPod changed listening to music.

However, an iPod can replace a CD because, for some, there's no romantic attachment to a piece of plastic. Books, however, are another story, says Judy Fong Bates. She fears an e-reader would sacrifice "the tactile experience: the hard cover, the turning of pages, the smell, the feel of paper, the fonts, the air between the lines." The thought of a book, she argues, can make a difference—Bates admits that she dislikes large print for its ugly fonts, even though it would be easier to read: "I wouldn't need to use my glasses!" (We agree: an e-reader appears to be a perfect vehicle for digital copies of magazines and newspapers, but we'll confess to having bought a copy of Jane Austen's Persuasion not only having judged the book by its cover, but also by the font and the smell of the pages.)

In the end, Bates wonders: "Can an e-reader be beautiful?"

Photo of Fallis courtesy of the author.