I listen to podcasts a lot. I listen to audiobooks a lot. And here I go, waxing poetic on reading and writing. Feel free to facepalm away.
I gobbled up this Atlantic podcast, “Is the Age of Reading Over” Hanna Rosin (a favorite of mine) interviewed Rose Horowitch, the writer of that Atlantic cover story—the one that, across the universe (or at least among the fifteen people who still read), prompted pearl-clutching and/or gagging. It seems reading has gone the way of dial-up AOL.
Here’s the Atlantic piece, “Is the Age of Reading Over.” The transcript of the Atlantic podcast is here, too.
In the podcast, Rosin and Horowitch do an excellent job of unwinding the article and really diving into the reality of our non-reading crisis—and where we may end up.
Within the interview, Horowitch spends some time on writing. You know: the written word—Substack and long-form web posts. I latched onto that discussion like a remora attaching to a shark. The reason I was so captured by her discussion of the written word is my crisis-intervention volunteering.
My crisis work is text-based only. I have done voice, but I find text-only much easier for me to navigate during a crisis. The give-and-take of dialogue is magical to me. What Horowitch presented addressed why the written word—even in short SMS texts—can accomplish so much for both the reader and the writer.
Horowitch and Rosin begin their discussion of writing with Walter Ong, a Jesuit priest and professor of English literature—also a cultural and religious historian and philosopher. His primary focus was exploring the transition from orality to literacy and how it changed human consciousness.
Horowitch notes that Ong understood writing text is a very different process than speaking.
Ong: “Writing has reinforced the old. It’s made talkers talk more, but it’s made them talk differently.”
Horowitch notes that writing employs more complex sentence structures and vocabulary. Writing something down creates distance because you can see what’s reflected back and find new understanding.
Rosin shared a quote Horowitch referenced in the article. It was from Neil Postman’s 1985 book Amusing Ourselves to Death:
“Writing freezes speech.”
In my text-based crisis counseling, I frequently share how, when those texting in share their words, those words become a neon sign blazing before them—so they can see themselves better, and I can see them better. It seems that “cute” call-out to share has a real basis in the history of reading and writing.
I’m finding many teens (and older) can sling words about themselves with fierce insight and skill. They have what has been termed emotional literacy. I’d like to think that comes from reading—not long-form posts like this, but from reading and sharing with friends via texting. They write, they see, they read what others say, they learn. Consciousness changes.
For me, I get to read between the lines of their texts—to hear what is not written. To feel the emotions in their selection of words. My bat ears are always twitching as I read (not just SMS texts, but books). I am a word and phrase collector: over ten journals of words, phrases, and thoughts. (Too bad I don’t go back to reread them.)
When you check on friends, neighbors, or family: a call is great and personal. But perhaps a text can work as well—if we consider that what we write carries equal weight, and what they respond with does as well. As you write (if you do), take a moment to realize how much more it is than getting likes, hearts, and shares.