Summary Of Should Everybody Write By Dennis Baron

Writing for a Select Crowd? In his essay, “Should Everybody Write?”, Dennis Baron explains the evolution of the history of writing from written text by select few as compared to more modern technology of today. He introduces many of the obstacles that writers faced in early history. Baron also describes many ways technology has enhanced the work of writers. Moreover he says, “Thanks to the computer and the internet, anyone can be a writer” (840). Baron contends that writers today have everything needed to write at their fingertips. According to Baron, while there are many positive changes for writers, also there were many obstacles to overcome. Baron says, “…only a few brave souls were tempted to try the technology” (843).

He says that by the 12th century, written documents were everywhere and literacy percentages were rising. Baron further discusses that writing expanded the author’s club and by the end of the 19th century, literacy levels rose over 80% in Western Europe and the U.S. Baron remarked that the pencil, the printing press, the typewriter, and the computer all expanded opportunities for writers; however, they had to clear hurdles imposed by publishers, government censors or the church. In contrast to Baron’s research, he says there will always be someone who objects to a new technology

He also poses a new question that could be seen as another obstacle in the technology world of writers and that is, “How can we control the writers and their explosion of text?” (849). According to Baron, Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg has pointed out saying, “from the earliest days of writing, there has always been too much to read” (849). Critics bemoan the internet’s information glut and they seek to control access to the more dangerous parts of cyberspace. Baron states there are firewalls and filters that can block what writers can do. He also says there are other ways we are controlling authorship that may be less traditional and a bit more subtle. Baron further explains that as we write on our computers, we are giving up our privacy in ways that writers never did before. He lists examples like exposing ourselves or our personas on Facebook, Twitter, or a blog. Baron says not just with those examples but also by leaving digital fingerprints that allow businesses and the government to log our keystrokes and track our clicks. Baron points out many obstacles in writing and technology in history and of today, but he concludes that among the positive changes for writers are the readers. According to Baron, the audience can be friends, family, tweeters, Facebook friends and subscribers to the blog. He concludes that the people online are willing to read