Writing for an Audience?
With internet connection becoming more accesable to more people in more places blogs are taking personal journal writing to another level. This highlights the question of whether such personal information should be read by the general public. In my opinion, there is a big difference between the kind of entries written in a personal journal and writing put before an audience.
All blogs or online journals & diaries are potentially read by someone. Even if that audience is never allowed to participate, they are there reading. Comments allow interaction with this audience. Allowing comments is an open invitation to engage in conversation with the writer. If you don’t hear what these people have to say it doesn’t mean they aren’t reading and reacting to your personal thoughts.
When I first began keeping an online journal I tried to convince myself I was not writing for an audience. Perhaps I wasn’t, but these days I doubt it. The thought of someone reading those entries was always there. I took the time to write those entries on my text only word processor, spell checked them and reread through to see that I’d made sense. The writing was going onto a public arena. I had to look good enough for that, even if good enough was only in my own opinion.
Writing without censoring yourself is another matter. I believe true personal journal writing is the kind you do not write for anyone but yourself. I don’t even believe this kind of writing should be read by family, though my mind isn’t completely settled on that one, yet.
So, what do you think? Are you writing your person journal for an audience? Or is your only audience you? Please share any thoughts in the comments section below.
Heather
Tags: blogs, creative-journals, heather-goldsmith, online-diaries-&-journals, personal-journal-writing, private-writing, writing-for-an-audience?Related Stories
POSTED IN: General: Journal Writing
6 opinions for Writing for an Audience?
Laura
Jan 13, 2008 at 5:12 am
I do both. I write for myself in my personal journal as well as for some future undefined “other.” I try to be as honest as possible although that vague undefined other may slightly influence my writing. I try to be honest because at times I find myself trying to justify myself and my actions and sometimes that includes writing about ugly although very human feelings. In the end I write for others in the hopes that 100, 200, 300 years from now people will still be reading about what I had for dinner and why. I write for myself because sometimes it is the only thing that keeps me from pulling my hair out.
Heather Goldsmith
Jan 13, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Hi Laura,
Yes, thanks for your thoughts on this. I do the same, too. I do write purely for myself and for an audience in a public online blog. Thanks for your input. ;-)
Velma
Jan 14, 2008 at 12:20 pm
My online journal is, obviously, public, though with the filters one can use (I’m on LiveJournal), I write some posts under the assumption that only a specific subgroup of people can read them. Otherwise, I assume that anyone, from my neighbors to my coworkers to J.Random Stranger could read them. Some of my writing is more personal than my friends’ online writing, because I prefer to have a mixture of very honest and personal writing and amusement-for-audience writing in my life.
My paper soul, though, is written for me and me alone. I can be cryptic, I fantasize with no apology, I can be as cranky as I want there. If someone reads it after I’m dead, they can devote as much or as little energy to figuring out what was real as they like — I won’t care.
Edie
Jan 14, 2008 at 5:36 pm
my blog is my public journal; sometimes I am still too quick to respond to someone else’s blog or comment and I regret it, but just because I would have preferred a more thoughtful response.
My handwritten journals are absolutely not for anyone else to read! I’m planning to burn them before I pass on, or put the “don’t read my journals” clause in my will, or something. Yikes, there’s some yucky stuff in them!
I think if I had children, I might feel differently about letting family members read my journals. I know that I had a lot of questions for my folks about why something happened the way it did. So I might be willing to let a son/daughter read specific portions; but I’m not sure about letting them read all of my journals.
Heather Goldsmith
Jan 14, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Hi Velma,
Thanks for commenting. I love your description of your journal; your paper soul. That is wonderful. Lol, to not caring because you will be dead, etc; I think that might be more likely the case for all of us. In the long run that will be all we can leave behind that is really us. And yet it may even add to the general confustion. ;-)
Heather Goldsmith
Jan 14, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Hi Edie,
Yes, I am still somewhat undecided about my children reading my journals when I’m no longer alive. I have mixed feelings about it, but perhaps it will help? Who knows. It’s interesting to ponder, though, as I will eventually need to decide what to do. I appreciate your input. ;-)
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