More blogging about blogging

There's been a lot of discussion lately about internal editing and self-censorship when it comes to blogging. Part of the debate has been focused on how much of yourself you share on your blog and what things you hold back. For my own part, there is pretty much nothing I won't talk about here, much to the chagrin of you, dear readers, because my life is pretty much an open book. I wear my heart, my thoughts, my emotions on my sleeve and I don't censor or restrict that in any way here.

As I've said before, there is no real rhyme or reason to this blog. I don't post with any kind of regularity and I never know what I'm going to say here. If I had to categorize myself, I'd label this a writer's blog because I do write about my experiences with writing fiction and poetry but there's a lot more to it than that. I've written about my mother and my father, things that happened to me growing up, what I want for the future, seemingly random lists, the occasional meme, and pretty much everything in between. This blog is not so much about writing as it is writing, does that make sense? It's my practice space, I guess you could call it, but everything written here comes from an honest and true place. (Jesus, that sounds corny, doesn't it?)

I think part of what makes blogging so appealing is the fact that you can make yourself into anyone you want to be. Blogging allows you to show only the sides of your personality that you want people to see. On a blog, you can be witty, funny, clever, thoughtful, heartfelt, sincere, intelligent, or any number of things that you may not be in real life. You can say things that maybe you wouldn't normally say, tell all your secrets, reveal your fears, your flaws, your failures. And the best part is, no one will know it's you unless you tell them.

I'm always curious about bloggers who don't post their picture, even though I'm one of them. I always wonder about the face behind the words, whether it will meet my expectations. (Bookfraud, I'm talking to you.) I know some people probably don't post their picture because people they know may read their blog. Some may just prefer the freedom that anonymity provides. Some, like me, think they are not fit to be seen by the public. But in the spirit of revealing all, and because blogging is by nature somewhat narcissistic, I've decided to lift the veil, for today at least. Who knows, maybe it will encourage others to reveal a little more of themselves on their blogs. Or you could all tell me to put a bag over my head. It's a risk I'm willing to take.




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