FOR A LONG time, I was a digital optimist.

I first realised that the internet might be an interesting place to experiment with new literary forms in 2001. I was a well-established author, having published four novels and two collections of short stories – books that had been translated and released across many markets. I was invited to teach a creative writing course at trAce Online Writing Centre, a virtual writing school with its home base at Nottingham Trent University in the UK, where I live. Back then, this newfangled version of a correspondence course was truly innovative. I was accustomed to tuning up the modem to book flights and send emails, but I was surprised to find that the internet was also a useful place to teach creative writing. The student cohort for the course was satisfyingly international, and discussing assignments online sometimes made for more considered responses than those made during a more traditional in-person workshop setting when nerves or shyness might have intervened.