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Some authors have enjoyed creating websites, posting their
works and communicating with readers by email. Other authors
have begun searching how using hyperlinks could expand their
writing towards new directions, while linking it to images and
sound. Jean-Paul switched from being a print author to being an
hypermedia author, while enjoying the freedom given by online
(self-)publishing: "The internet allows me to do without
intermediaries such as record companies, publishers and
distributors. Most of all, it allows me to crystallize what I
have in my head: the print medium only allows me to partly do
that. (...) Surfing the web is like radiating in all directions
(I am interested in something and I click on all the links on a
home page) or like jumping around (from one click to another,
as the links appear). You can do this in the written media, of
course. But the difference is striking. So the internet changed
how I write. You don't write the same way for a website as you
do for a script or a play."

= The internet as a research tool

Murray Suid is a writer of educational books and material
living in Palo Alto, in the heart of Silicon Valley. He has
also written books for kids, multimedia scripts and
screenplays. How did using the internet change his professional
life? He wrote in September 1998: "The internet has become my
major research tool, largely - but not entirely - replacing the
traditional library and even replacing person-to-person
research. Now, instead of phoning people or interviewing them
face to face, I do it via email. Because of speed, it has also
enabled me to collaborate with people at a distance,
particularly on screenplays. (I've worked with two producers in
Germany.) Also, digital correspondence is so easy to store and
organize, I find that I have easy access to information
exchanged this way. Thus, emailing facilitates keeping track of
ideas and materials. The internet has increased my
correspondence dramatically. Like most people, I find that
email works better than snail mail. My geographic range of
correspondents has also increased - extending mainly to Europe.
In the old days, I hardly ever did transatlantic penpalling. I
also find that emailing is so easy, I am able to find more time
to assist other writers with their work - a kind of a virtual
writing group. This isn't merely altruistic. I gain a lot when
I give feedback. But before the internet, doing so was more of
an eff