“If you want to write… Try to discover your true, honest, untheoretical self.” ~ Brenda Ueland’s If You Want to Write
Can it be done? Can one’s “true, honest, untheoretical self” be discovered in a blog, of all places? I smell an oxymoron. But—maybe not. Ueland’s classic If You Want to Write has inspired many a journal, including my own, so why not a blog? Isn’t, as they say, art communication? Not that anything resembling art will happen here.
I’m coming out of the closet, shifting from my secret, safe Microsoft Word journal to an online version, something I thought I’d never do. And all to practice writing outside of a vacuum. (I’ve grown too comfortable—and sloppy—in my vacuum.)
I don’t even like the word blog. It’s an ugly word, and it sounds like what it so often is: someone spitting up all over the Internet. I think I’ll call this little experiment an online journal.
I like the idea of being compelled to convert everyday experiences into story. That’s what writers do, after all. But I get lazy or absorbed in other things, and those powers that so desperately need exercising go soft.
Here is my pledge: I won’t dwell on how the morning’s latte I ordered did or didn’t turn out, nor will I linger over the cute or mischievous deeds of my own children. Or how the husband and I liked or loathed such-and-such a restaurant or what I made for dinner (well, don’t hold me to the latter). Only if I’m bursting with something will I commit it to my current font of choice. (I wrote Helen Wilfer in Times New Roman, and after 41,000 words and countless rewrites, my eyes need a change.)
This may go badly, very badly. (Most quotes by famous dead people urge one on to greatness. I like this one by G.K. Chesterton because I hear in it permission to mess up: “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.”)
If you’re a friend, feel no pressure to bear with. You won’t be quizzed, I promise.
I like and admire your attitude. It really is time for more quality and selfcontrol on the web. I am glad I found your beautiful journal! Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us! Looking forward to my next visit, Martina
How Refreshing! I love what you have ‘said’ here! Glad I found your ‘online journal’ !
Always appreciated the Chesterton quote too!
Mmmmm…. you’re writing some of my mostly unformed thoughts on this…… you spur me on to the more beautiful in my wordsmithing!