The Good Ole Days of Writing--Wait! What?

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Life was better in the "good ole days" right?

Sometimes I wonder what I could have done with my writing if I could take my current self and transport into fifteen-year-old me. Could I carry my knowledge of writing and story-telling with me. Could I get that fifteen-year-old to listen and do what I now know works? I would amaze people with my maturity in writing at such a young age.

But, then, my logical mind takes over and says: "But wait a minute. What about the resources you have now? Your younger self won't have a computer or access to the internet."

This is true. The computers people used when I was fifteen were humongous monsters taking up acreage, not part of a desk, table, or lap. The world wide web? Yep. Not invented yet.

Sure, I could go back and hack out some great stories on my old manual typewriter, but that's a lot of work. I've done that. It's not pretty. If you make a mistake, well, fixing it took some work. If you're too young to remember those days, feel free to ask your parents or grandparents how we handled errors.

And, I wouldn't have access to as many writing resources as I do now. Sure, Writer's Digest and The Writer magazines existed, but that doesn't mean it would be easy to locate copies of the publications. And if you're hooked on Poets & Writers magazine, forget it, they didn't exist. So...

Here's a list of resources I would miss:


I get that some of these are a necessary evil, but let's face it, it's much easier to do what we do now, even with all the extra added distractions.

What would you miss if you had to go back and write in the "good ole days"? Please share in the comments, especially if you know of a great resource or website.


*Autocrit offers a software that I've heard good things about but haven't used. I'm listing them due to their blog/newsletter which I've found useful, too.

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