Modern Writing: The Effect of Process on Product and Perception

摘要

Since the Civil War, service members have used the memoir to describe their experiences at war. Today, good memoirs, which are normally the staple of postwar writing, have been temporarily replaced by online postings. Publishers are reluctant to publish well-polished memoirs because there is too much of a time delay between events and availability on the shelves, a demand that has been satisfied by blogs. As it is raw, unprocessed, and often inaccurate, blogging is not likely to last, but it has left an indelible footprint on the history of the current wars. The pressure of instant reporting has diluted the product, and to make headlines these days, inaccuracies and poor writing are excused in an effort to be first or controversial. The blog has been mistakenly labeled as the method by which today's generation will tell their stories to the world. However, blogs will likely become a footnote in our history, as the great memoirs of the current war are yet to come. Throughout history warriors have gone to war and had stories told about their accomplishments back home. Since the advent of the printer, a popular theme of short stories and novels has been of heroic warriors. By the time of the Civil War, the memoir became the standard for Americans to tell their wartime experiences and inspire the nation. Early memoirs were filled with religious righteousness and vehement support for the nation's cause. As the memoir evolved, there was a slow shift from writing about God and country to writing about the effect of war on man. As memoirs continued to evolve after the Second World War, the theme shifted to man's participation in war and its effect on culture. Great novels and memoirs from our generation have yet to be written, or have been written and not yet published. Just as the early writers in feudal society wrote about the great deeds of their knights, the writings from the current war will be invaluable in informing the nation of its warriors' successes.