Imagine a piece of technology that would make it easy for writers to experimentally yield different versions of their work. Writers would no longer struggle as they become uninhibited in their creativity. Behold the revolutionary “WriterCreator”. It is an application that assists a person in producing their work in different forms of writing, for example, poems, prose, plays, songs, and even pictorial representations of their work. But this software would not only be limited to just writing forms. Writers could also use the software to experiment with multitudes of writing styles. The styles would not only include the traditional ones such as rhetoric, persuasive as so forth, but also new, evolving styles such as the Twitter style of writing that motivates the writer to be succinct and avoid verbosity. Assist is the operative word. The application would not serve to do the work for the writer and subsequently allow laziness on their part, but merely help by providing advice and lessen the struggle some writers may experience when experimenting with different writing forms and styles.

My idea is inspired from the works of David Foster Wallace, Nicholas Baker and Jennifer Egan, authors who have experimented with different styles and forms of writing, as discussed by Jason Pontin in “How Authors Write”. As Pontin points out, Wallace and Baker are known for their use of footnotes in their writings such as the “Host” and “The Mezzanine” respectively. Additionally, Egan has also approached a different way of storytelling by using PowerPoint slides in “A Visit from the Goon Squad” (Pontin).

Such creative attempts to attract and enrich the readers’ reading experience not only triggered my idea, but also encouraged me to enhance it by introducing improvements upon current technologies that somehow limit or make it difficult for authors to creatively manipulate their writing. Thus, my product also features an improvement on the footnotes technology implemented in word processors such as Microsoft Word. In my opinion, the tool in Word is very cumbersome to use. So, my software would also consist of a footnotes system that does not automatically place the note at the end of the page, but instead initially is in the shape of a bubble above the text that is being footnoted. As soon as the writer has finished typing his footnote, they can double-click on it and the note would be allocated to its rightful position. I think this would be a great help to anyone who writes because it makes it easier to refer to the text that is being footnoted while writing the note. Even though it would not be of much help when footnoting a citation, but people who use footnotes to convey extra information apart from the story could find it very convenient and helpful.

Nonetheless, this technology would be created to address the absence of a tool that allows such a writing experiments. Of course, there are websites and media that help writers write in different forms and styles. Searching Google would easily yield websites that provide templates and even an automatic poem generator for the purpose of writers:

However, my software intends to be broader and more encompassing of all multitudes of forms and styles and thus act as a hub for all writers to attempt creative formats of writing and reaching. The new media technology is therefore, a build up on previous technologies. As authors such as Kevin Kelly and Lev Manovich in “What Technology Wants” and “The Language of New Media” respectively, state, much of today’s technology is derived from previous inventions in an attempt to improve upon the flaws and provide a better product enhanced with new features and conveniences. Furthermore, the software is a speculative or reflective design that isn’t simply restricted to improvements; it is also an attempt to transcend the technologies of the present like in Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake” and contemplate on technological fluency (Kraus 76).

Moreover, I want to implement this idea in the form of software rather than a device in order to avoid the use of materials that are harmful to the environment. Creating a physical device would mean an accumulation of poisonous chemicals such as Benzene and trichloroethylene that cause health hazards (Parikka). Yet, the larger goal is to easily distribute the software to the masses of aspiring and professional writers. The product would be a cloud-based software available on all platforms like Mac, Android, Windows and on devices such as the iPhone, iPad, PCs, MacBook etc., that would allow users to synchronize it with all their devices and work on the go. The application would be a paid one, but will have a reasonable price in order to maintain a large consumer base.

The software would be created with the help of a software developer that would make it multiplatform. The crux of the tool, the advice feature, would be designed with the help of experts in various fields of poetry, playwriting and so forth as well as scholarly English professors with regards to writing styles. As mentioned earlier, the application is not intended as a replacement for the entire writing process of the writer. They will always possess complete creative liberty and the technology would by no means deprive them of such powers.

In addition, there would be a global advertising campaign for this product. Since the target audience is the writer, it should thus be catered to writers from all parts of the world. Television advertisements would show the results of using this product and how it positively enriches the creative talents of writers and appeal to their readers in unique ways. Also, social media advertising would be vital to the promotion campaign and I would hire people who would be marketing ambassadors to spread the message about this application. Plus, to attract potential customers, I would initially provide free 30-day trials.