Life Concentrated: Kate Brody on Writing About the Internet
Kate Brody shares her experience and insights on writing about the internet and contemporary issues.
Writing About the Internet: Facing the Fear
For years, Kate Brody avoided incorporating technology into her writing. However, she realized the importance of addressing contemporary issues in her work and decided to face her fears. She acknowledges that this is how we live now and that avoiding it would seem false.
She shares her concerns about getting our modern lives wrong, especially when it comes to writing about the internet. As an avid user herself, she could distinguish between authentic and inaccurate portrayals. To overcome this challenge, she relied on her craft and paid close attention to different aspects of online life.
Crafting Authentic Portrayals: Case Studies
Brody uses several examples to illustrate how different elements of online life can be translated into craft. She mentions books like Berlin by Bea Setton, Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom, No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood, and Hotels of North America by Rick Moody.
Each of these authors paid close attention to the platforms they were writing about and used craft elements to bring them to life. Setton focused on point of view, Rowbottom relied on imagery, Lockwood incorporated poetic forms reminiscent of Twitter, and Moody explored character development through online reviews.
Recreating the Online World on the Page
Brody explains her own process of recreating the internet experience on the page. She spent a lot of time on Reddit, analyzing the distinct voices and elements that make the platform unique. She experimented with different writing techniques like profanity, fragmentation, and capitalization to capture the diversity of voices on Reddit.
In the end, Brody emphasizes the importance of distilling the online experience and editing out the filler. She believes that great writing about the internet should advance characterization and plot, leaving only what the reader truly needs to understand and engage with the story.
