Alternating Point of View

(Part 1 of 5)

My style of going into the mind of each of the characters is based on the reading habits of many young people.

I have read how the neural pathways of our young are different from people of earlier generations but I do not place a great deal of credibility on that research – how can anyone know what my neural network is like, for example, as no one has ever looked? Instead, what seems certain is that our young read differently.

The impact of audio visual technology has had a tremendous influence, especially on young males. Television has stories separated by advertisements – lack of continuity. Smaller screens – long paragraphs presenting a block of text and decidedly unattractive. Flicking between webpages – further incentive for grasshopper brains. An education system that segments knowledge by increasingly specialised topics (what was “English”, for example, is now a series of options with the student able to gain credit points without any guarantee of a comprehensive grasp of the fuller picture).

The list of these influences is quite extensive and I bring them up as a matter of fact, not of criticism or implication that there is something defective. Quite the contrary, there are tremendous strengths in the fabric of our social and developmental evolution.

I raise the issue as I have tried to incorporate this viewpoint in how I write.

I look forward to your comments

Regards

Eddie