“Writing is self-exposure. . . . We all stand naked on the page,” says Donald Murray in Write to Learn, and I couldn’t agree more.
Every time I write something I feel as though I have taken a little piece of my soul and spread it out on a sheet of paper for the world to see. This act is both therapeutic and downright frightening; I feel as though I am revealing to strangers the very essence of my being, putting it on display, awaiting the final judgment – which undoubtedly will come with a slight sting.
Be it an essay or a song, a poem or a novel, I consider my writing as something so personal, something I have birthed on my own; and that is why I shudder to think of the unarguable truth in what Donald Murray says: “Writing is a private act with a public result.”
Each time I present my work to a person or a group I can’t help but think of Anna Nalick when she sang: “I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd/ ‘cause these words are my diary screaming out loud/ and I know that you'll use them/ however you want to” (Anna Nalick “Breathe”). Come to think of it, most of the time when I am reading out loud or sharing my work in one way or another with fellow writers or classmates I begin to realize that standing naked in front of them instead may not be so bad after all.
~Lauren Bersaglio
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I couldn't agree more, Lauren. I especially can relate to how writing and revealing your soul is so therapeutic (that's why I keep a journal). But letting other people see that window to the soul and probably critiquing it is nerve-wracking. Yet, like you said, it must be done, because it is for the public's benefit that we write in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI've never considered before (until right now) that other writers, such as famous ones, would have felt this way when they released their masterpieces which we are now in awe of. Interesting!
I see exactly where you're coming from Lauren. When you experience writing in a real way, and when it isn't something that you mindlessly write to get through a class, it can reveal a very personal side of you. It's definitely a nerve racking thought to know that if this work is eventually published, more than your initial intended audience will see it.
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