.
[i know this post is so 2005, but hey--i was late to the party.]
i got some really great, thought-provoking comments to my last post--which (as such things tend to go around here) leads me to this one.
in an increasingly un-private world, the web is one of the few places left where one can still run, hide and completely reinvent oneself--and this is especially true in the blogosphere. from the get-go, everybody has to make a decision: how out-there do they wanna be?
four basic choices:
1. totally anonymous. this blogger keeps his* real and blog-world completely separate; due to the total freedom from inhibition afforded by such anonymity, such blogs are often very controversial for one reason or another.
2. partially anonymous. while his true identity is kept outta the blogosphere, this blogger lets select friends from his real world (and select people he meets online) in on the secret.
i generally find that the most interesting blogs fall into the following categories:
3. partially out-there. this blogger writes as himself--his face and at least some elements of his identity are known to all--but is selective as to what parts of his life he's willing to share with his readers.
4. totally out-there. this guy is open to an extraordinary degree, and lets the chips fall where they may--such blogs, at their best, combine all the best elements of a controversial type-1 blog with a quality of authenticity that the former can't even approach. i know very few blogs of this type (that are readable, anyway).
and then--as in every continuum--there's all kinds of degrees in between, bloggers evolve and things change all the time.
i of course am a type 2. i considered going the type-1 route in the interests of being even more open, but decided against it for a couple reasons: first, because i thought that sharing the blog with certain friends might deepen and enhance those relationships; and second, because i knew that having a few people from my real life looking over my shoulder would be a surefire way to keep me honest. and so far, both have worked out pretty well.
and while, as noblesavage pointed out in his comment, it's true that many blogs are nothing more than glossy sales brochures for their authors, i've always been an underseller. even in the recent posts about the little house, in which i'm ostensibly blowing my own horn, in retrospect they seem more self-deprecating than anything else--but then, i guess that's being authentic to my nature (ok, my sober nature).
once i'm done with this blog, i'd like to be able to look back at it in my dotage and (a) see a tangible improvement in the quality of the writing and storytelling over the course of its life; and (b) recognize those posts in which i talk about myself as being reasonably accurate, well-rounded explorations of my views, character and feelings as i see them--the good and the bad--rather than just some glorified presentation of how i wish my life had been.
that's not asking too much, is it?
[update: for the record, this post has been reworked since its publication yesterday (yeah, i do reserve that right). trust me, i spared you from lameness.]
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* sorry if i offended any womyn--you know i mean you too.
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3 comments:
There is a certain narcissism necessary for any writing. Well, more accurately, for any writing that you intend others to read.
That is why my favorite author is Emily Dickinson. Not because she is the greatest poet who ever lived (please no), but because she wrote her poems out so lovingly and wrapped up the paper into little scrolls and kept them in a chest only to be found upon her death. She had intended the poems to be destroyed.
There is also something really creepy about people who blog about their own lives so intimately for all of the world to see. You are never living, but just gathering material for your next blog. It kinda reminds me of former Senator Bob Graham who's diary is so detailed, he records every piss and meal and handshake.
So, guttermorality has struck a nice balance between too much intimacy (with a certain uselessness attached to that) and too much introspection about the exact same incident (a certain very very introverted friend of mine who keeps reliving and meditating upon the few incidents of his formative life -- he has been doing this for decades).
I don't know...I definitely hit an extreme level of intimacy with "Confessions of a Closet Masochist" that was uncomfortable for entirely different reasons (see my comment on the "Marcus" post).
I definitely didn't live to blog--I just lived, and my life happened to be worth blogging about. I rarely discussed the mundane (how many shits and pisses I took in a day), but always discussed my latest sexcapades, my mom's slow death and my descent into bipolar madness.*
There's yet another category of bloggers: those looking for a book deal. They probably suck ass the most.
*if anyone's on myspace and wants to read my blog, please just ask. It's definitely an interesting read at times.**
**Yes, I'm pimping myself out.
For the record, Savage, the only thing I even remember about Emily Dickinson is that she was "pious but not religious".
noblesavage: you flatter me.
oh, and three things:
1) you just know emily treated her little treasures so preciously because deep in her heart she wanted them to live forever;
2) in that spirit, next time i see you i'm gonna give you the login and p/w to this blog so that in the event of my untimely demise, you can (a) notify my curious readers of same; and (b) at your discretion, purge the more objectionable entries and then present the remainder to my family in order that they may know me in death as they never did in life (attorney/client privilege will apply, of course).
3) once again, you've jogged a memory and provided the impetus for my next post.
judi: girl, i ever get the guts to tackle myspace (and your myriad issues--all of which seem to dwarf mine), i'll hit you up.
however, i can see why such a level of frankness caused you problems--people close to you can't handle that kind of honesty (which is why my nearest and dearest won't see this until i die).
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