Remediation of Writing Spaces
Writing spaces are the outlets where an author writes. Over the course of written history more and more writing spaces have been conceived and used to convey ideas and information.
The first and foremost writing space I use is quickly becoming a relic of ancient time, and that is the Notebook. Writing in a notebook requires a strong memory of the language one is writing in, because the notebook does not come with any references to anything. It’s just white sheets of paper with lines on them so the author can write a little neater. To write, the author must physically move a stylus, such as a pen or pencil, across the paper to make the symbols used in the language. This method is unique in todays world because it is completely un-automated.
Second to the notebook, I often write documents on a word processing program on the computer. Unlike the notebook, the English alphabet, as well as symbols and numbers, are all placed on the writing interface, the keyboard. Instead of sliding a pen across a piece of paper these symbols are pushed down with the fingers and the same symbol appears on the screen above the keyboard. The entire process is digital, and very little physical activity goes on besides typing. Also, unlike the notebook, writing a document on the computer does not instantly result in a hardcopy. To get the text in a more portable, paper form the author must print it out on a printer.
My newest writing space is the blog. Until recently I was very unfamiliar with this method of writing. It includes all aspects of writing on a word processing program, but the difference is that the author is easily and efficiently uploading his or her documents onto the Internet for an audience to respond to. The author can read the feedback they get from other blog posters and fashion their work to those responses, if they so choose. Not only is this a writing space, but a reading space since a blog user can glide through pages and pages of independent authors material, published electronically. It is the most instant form of gratification an aspiring writer can ask for.
The blog is only now beginning to remediate the personal computer. Of course you need the computer to use the blog, but now instead of young writers typing away their next short story to be saved in a private folder of documents, that short story can instantly be put up on the web for all to read and respond to, making that private folder obsolete.
The blog is also in a constant state of self remediation because it is based around a community of individuals who share thoughts and ideas. This sharing of information disseminates across the Internet and eventually very specific modes of conduct, almost like Internet subcultures, start to proliferate.
