Maybe I just need more buzzwords.

Novel 2.0!

Now the bleeding edge of literature doesn't have to involve paper cuts. And you can be part of it for a mere 100k investment!

Who could refuse? Novels will be the wave of literary future. Surely if J.K. Rowling can sell eight and a half million copies in a single day, surely a book that looks a lot like it but adds a couple new features will make almost as much money?

It's not going to happen. A lot of similar books will hit the shelves, but it will never be the same. Historically, it never works. But history has never had much to do with the prevailing business mentality that people will only buy the same thing over and over again.

But somehow, in the online world, all it takes is a few well placed buzzwords to convince investors that they are worth bucket-fulls of money. Somehow we're sure that a slightly tweaked use of old technology will garner the attention of Microsoft, Yahoo, or Google.

Is it because of the power of the almighty buzzword?

Do you realize that “buzzword” is, in fact, a buzzword? (There's that vicious cycle again.)

Writers can do a lot with buzzwords, and it doesn't matter if the current preference is for Information Superhighways or Dot Coms or Web 2.0s, we can make something of it. Sometimes we can make millions of dollars of it.

During the Dot Com Craze we had convinced ourselves that we were on the cusp of a revolution. People were ready to throw money at Internet businesses rather than business models. Who needs a model when you've got the Internet... and a pocket-full of buzzwords? The Dot Com revolution was going to be amazing. It was going to revolutionize the way we interacted with each other, the way we shopped, the way we advertised, the way we learned, the way we accessed information.

It didn't really happen.

Luckily, now we've got Web 2.0.

Web 2.0 is going to revolutionize the way we interact with each other, the way we shop, the way we advertise, the way we learn, and the way we access information.

Whew. Finally!

So until it's time for the next big thing to describe the same old thing, as writers we'll hold onto our buzzwords like secret, mystical words that, when put in the right order, will create magic. Or, if we're really lucky, money.

But what about the Art? No one chooses writing as a career without at least a little desire to create – a need to make something with a little quality.

Are we ruining that by succumbing to the convenience of the buzzword? Do we sell out just a little bit every time we leverage the synergy of optimized word usage?

Maybe.

But what can we do about it? Wait for the current bubble to burst and then be the first to name the next trend?

Maybe.

It's not exactly Art, but there is definitely an art to it. Shifting Paradigms and Revolutionizing Outside the Box can only be used in certain ways. The right way means a catchy phrase and intellectual influence. A true Masterpiece. The wrong way means a words that are hollow and completely devoid of meaning. The wrong way is a cheap fake... from a dot matrix printer... printed on tattered, sun-faded construction paper.

There's nothing wrong with big, trendy words. In fact, they're usually fun to play around with. We just have to remember to use them for good rather than evil. We can obfuscate or we can enlighten. The choice is ours.

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