How writing has gotten easier, harder, more fun, and less fun all at the same time!

BTW, I LOVE this!

Sometimes I sit back and wonder, has writing always been this way?

Even ten years ago, without the internet how did writers communicate and interact with each other?  Did they?  It seems to me that it would have been easier to write in your own little bubble, free from the influence of the opinions of so many other writers.  At the same time, I'm a product of the NOW Generation and I like getting immediate feedback from friends and people I don't know.  I don't know how I'd have functioned in a pre-Book Country/My Writer's Circle world.  And don't even get me started on Facebook or Twitter.  For that matter, what if I didn't have this blog or access to all of the other cool and informative blogs out there?

Writing has gotten easier in that information is easier to find.  It's easier to research more topics and the spectrum of things we can write about is broader because we, as a people in general, are more/better educated. 

The tools and resources on the craft of writing are literally at our finger-tips.  It's easy to Google (or Bing - I LOVE the pictures they have on their main page) anything from "How To Write Better Dialogue" to "Writing a steamy sex scene from A-Z".  It's nice to be able to go out there (without actually going anywhere) and get that kind of information.

Sites like MyWritersCircle.com and BookCountry.com have popped up and it's easy (and FUN) to give an receive feedback.  A unforseen side-effect of wonderful sites like these for a lot of people has been the benefits they get from critiquing others.  A writer can grow SO much from giving constructive feedback to other writers.  Issues you see in someone else's work become issues you avoid in your own work.

At the same time, writing has gotten a little bit harder because there seems to be so much more competition.  While sites like the ones I listed earlier are great resources, they also show us there are other people out there with ideas that are just as great as own. 

With all of the resources out there on how to be a better writer, it can sometimes be a little overwhelming.  For me, personally, I have a hard time letting up on the reigns and just writing.  I'm always sweating things like sentence structure and adverbs as I go along.    This can sometimes take the fun out of writing for me.  When you got your first great idea and all you wanted to do wass get it down and out to the world, you probably hadn't thought about all the crap that goes along with it.

And this post isn't even going to touch finding agent or publishing! 

It's not so bad though, because I think writing's also gotten a LOT more fun.  There's now a whole community of writers.  An internation network that allows to exchange feedback and ideas in a way that's never been seen before.

It can be overwhelming at times, but if you know when and how to use the resources available then this can be a great time to be a writer!

What's your most and least favorite thing about being a writer in this day and age?