I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer the question, but
I've read about what other people see for books in the future. One of the predominant predictions is that
books would become multimedia. There'd be music, video, or whatever technology
comes in the future. I've also seen a bunch of readers say they don't want
their reading interrupted by music or video.
Part of the reading experience is using imagination and
video would detract from that experience, IMO. Of course, five years ago, a lot
of people were saying they didn't want to read their books in electronic
format, so who knows if minds will change? Still, movies are a form of
storytelling and if books become more like movies, why would we need the book?
I've also heard a lot of speculation that there will be more
reader input into which direction a story goes and the author will write it to
what the group wants.
Do I think this will happen? I don't know. To be honest, I
hope not because I can't write to committee. I've said it before, but my
characters are the ones in control, and if I try to do something they don't
like, they lock me up so I can't write anything until I go back and fix what
they don't like.
My concern is that books are falling by the wayside because
people just aren't reading. I also read an article that said more people want
to write books than read them. I'm not sure how anyone can
write a book who doesn't read—I learned so much from reading about how to
write—but I believe the article because I've met so many people who've said the
same thing to me.
