And the day is not far off when submissions will have to be in electronic form. We are not yet quite to the point that paper submissions, without electronic versions, cannot get a hearing. But that day will come within perhaps the next ten years, certainly within the next twenty. A beginning writer, of course, needs to write. The essential skills of effective writing do not depend upon the tools used.
Electronic tools make certain clerical tasks easier.
But they can do nothing for character or plot, and a run through an electronic spelling checker and an electronic grammar checker is not a revision. No one should hesitate to write because of a lack of electronic tools, but those who do have them, especially those beginning a career that may extend for twenty or thirty years or longer, ought to learn something about electronic tools when they get them. It takes a long time even to move the cursor around on a page. Click to learn how. Find your local gay bookstore.