Discussion Question: How do you determine where your private writing ends and your public writing begins?
As bloggers, because, chances are, anyone participating in this site has a blog, how do you choose what you publish and what you keep to yourself? Sometimes, you need to just write, right? In a journal, or notebook of some kind — something a bit more personal, private. How do you determine where your private writing ends and your public writing begins? Or am I the only blogger/writer to suffer from this confusion?
Please discuss your responses to this question in the comments. Note: you can respond directly to other comments by clicking the “Reply” link in the bottom right corner of each comment.
(Credit for this discussion question goes to Tristan from . . . the almost right word.)
April 15th, 2009 at 4:29 am
As a quasi-anonymous blogger, I don’t work overly much about this issue. My blog was started as a way to write privately and I’ve shared things on it that only a few people in real life know about. There are things I do not share though but that’s usually because I am 1) not allowed to or 2) not ready to talk about it just yet.
April 15th, 2009 at 4:33 am
I suffer from the same lacking organization at times. There have been moments I’ve written something in Blogger and then deleted it in fear that it was too personal of an issue. Before Blogger, however, there was Xanga where my personal “journal style” blog has had a home for six years now. The uber personal things go there, and the more on the surface, discussion pieces go here.
April 15th, 2009 at 6:36 am
I’ve always been one of those “over-sharers” who doesn’t mind sharing their inner-most thoughts and feelings to the point of making things somewhat awkward…at least when it comes to my writing.
The problem with my personal writing is that when I have something personal to write about I tend to zone out and enter stream-of-conscious mode so completely that when I come to nothing I’ve written will make sense to anyone but me (and not even me most of the time). When it gets to that point I just keep it private, or delete it outright.
I tend to be a rambler.
April 15th, 2009 at 7:37 am
Believe it or not, I love writing but when it comes to my own thoughts and ideas I become so self conscious. I am hoping that by contributing to other blogs I will hopefully muster up enough strength to start my own blog. I was glad to see your post because I feel most writers share everything and aren’t afraid to put themselves out there. I’m glad I am not alone on this.
April 15th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Courtney, you are definitely not alone and I am thrilled to hear from someone who shares my…hesitation.
I guess I’ve been having a bit of a blog-identity crisis. I’ve even put it on hold for the time being. I tend to ask myself the same questions over and over again. Why am I writing this? What do I want to do with this blog? Am I publishing this post for the right reasons? Etc. Etc. It’s rather confusing and, since I don’t have the answers at the moment, I’ve decided to take a break and gather my thoughts. I don’t want to look back and think, “Man. What was I thinking!?”
April 15th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Like all writing, I wonder if this question comes back to audience. In other words, do you determine what you share based on who is reading it?
I keep a journal for a reason—some details of my life are very private, for my eyes only, for just ME, and I don’t want/need anyone else’s responses or questions or reactions. And other stories and feelings expressed in blog posts, poetry, essays, short stories, e-mails, etc., I throw out into the world because I want reactions, a discussion.
I guess I choose the writing I share based on the return I’m seeking. Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know…
April 15th, 2009 at 8:54 am
I am sometimes confused because I want to be deep but I don’t want to seem depressing. I don’t want it to seem like im complaining about life. But I draw the line at my family. I definitely don’t want anyone thinking bad about them because of me so when it comes to personal issues, I don’t talk about it.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:26 am
When I write my blog, I always, always, ALWAYS think to myself- would I be ok with my mom reading this? Though I do write some things I wouldn’t normally talk to my mom about, they are things I’d be ok with her knowing, I just don’t want to actually discuss them with her…
April 15th, 2009 at 11:18 am
What a great measuring point! And one that I should definitely keep in mind for the future. I’ve actually given my mom the link to my blog, and I know she has read it from time to time. It certainly is limiting — my relationship with my mother is one that would be great writing fodder. But it’s a great way to gauge what to publish and what not to publish.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:34 am
I started out as an “anonymous” blogger. But that is usually almost always blown.
Now I sometimes write blog posts as drafts and don’t publish them. They’re still within my blog for me to look back and read, but I don’t publish them.
I can’t write in a journal anymore – I find it to sluggish and archaic. Who has time for that? Kinda sad.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:50 am
This is actually something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I’ve started supplying my blog link to possible employers to show my creative writing side, and it actually just landed me a writing job. Also, my parents and entire family read it because I live so far away from them, it’s a way for them to keep up with my life.
On the other hand, there are so many things I CAN’T write about because of this. I don’t write about my sex life or family problems or anything like that, even though sometimes I’d like too! I turn to my blog readers for advice ALOT and there are some things that I would like advice on but just don’t feel comfortable posting them on my blog because family and potential employers could see it! Instead, I write my most private problems/thoughts in a private journal or talk to my closest girlfriends about it.
April 15th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
I recently decided that I need to write down some of the things I was going through, I thought that it would help me understand what I was feeling and how to control some of my emotions. My first thought was to put it on my blog, but my friend and friends read my blog and I didn’t want them to see this side of me. Since my blog mainly hosts short stories that I’m writing, I decided to write it in a pseudo fictional story form.
I’m writing it from the first person and I am encountering a person who has the problems that I am currently going through. Hopefully I can pass it off as fiction but in doing so I’m writing down my thoughts and figuring things out and it provides the therapy that I was seeking.
April 15th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
My current blog’s purpose is to chronicle my move overseas and subsequent journey to develop myself, personally and professionally. Because I am NOT an anonymous blogger, I do keep in mind the type of content that I post.
I am a private person by nature, and unlike past ventures where my identity was unknown, I know (for a fact) that I have family members and friends reading my blog. I leave the personal struggles to my journal, but draw inspiration for “lessons learned” type posts for my blog.
I like to be open, but not too open.
April 15th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
I honestly don’t think about this much. I write whatever I want to, and I’m pretty comfortable sharing my own thoughts. But, occasionally I’ll be somewhere away from my computer and I’ll get hit with this panic about all the stuff on my blog that I wouldn’t want people I know to read.
But, my general openness has been really surprising to me, and something I’ve become really comfortable with through blogging.
April 16th, 2009 at 4:23 am
I’m fairly open about what I write. However, I don’t display the deeper family issues for the public. Some of those issues aren’t mine to discuss. I write what I feel like is mine to write and nothing more. I definitely agree that saying “would my family be ok reading this” is a good line have in the sand.
April 16th, 2009 at 4:58 am
I know family knows about my blog, so I try not to write anything they would find offensive. I really don’t think about it much. I write whatever I feel I need to write, unless I know it could hurt someone close to me.
April 16th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Hm. That’s a good question. If I’m writing about friends I make sure I know where they draw the line on what is and what is not to be shared. If I’m writing about myself and my feelings it just depends on what I’m comfortable sharing with the world. I do keep a journal and write in it every few days, so anything I don’t want to share with people will go in my journal.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
For me, I stop where it would hurt my friends or family if they ever came across my blog and found out that it was me writing it. I’ve not told any of them about it, though. If there’s something I need to get off my chest that is too personal or identifying, I just put it in my journal, vent to friends, etc. However, if I really think something will make a good topic for any of my blogs, I may still use a personal experience but change the names of people and the exact scenario so that no one is recognizable but the gist of the story remains the same.