Most of my work is, I get an idea, and, with the help of Wikipedia, I can write. I don't have to leave my apartment.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Wikipedia is kind of extreme, where a very, very small group of people contribute pretty much everything.
Writing an encyclopedia is hard. To do anywhere near a decent job, you have to know a great deal of information about an incredibly wide variety of subjects. Writing so much text is difficult, but doing all the background research seems impossible.
Wikipedia is kind of weird. I feel it's lame to put up my own page, but I desperately want someone else to do it.
Writing for me can be homework. I do get a lot from it in the end. But I hate doing it.
Well I've been writing books. So that, by its nature, is kind of a solitary occupation. And from time to time I have research help, but mostly I've done those completely on my own.
I have a very long pre-writing process where I'm jotting down ideas in a notebook and ripping out relevant newspaper articles - a long fact-finding mission.
I usually don't have to do a lot of research in my work, as I'm writing about something I'm already familiar with.
I'm loath to use my personal life to promote what I do, but at the same time, I don't like a journalist going away with no more than you could get off Wikipedia, where most of it's invented anyway.
The Internet is a limitless library at your fingertips. It's a great place to start with the acquisition of knowledge. My process is to go to a place when I'm writing about it. Nothing captures the essence, feeling and flavor of a place better than when I'm actually there and doing the writing.
My favourite place to write is at my desk in my house in the mountains of Crete. I produce more there because one big distraction is missing: the Internet.