Blogsense & Getting Personal

I visited with a priest today to make up a class I missed during RCIA on morals and conscience formation. I told him the difficulties I've had as a blog writer and the occasional negative feedback I have received. Despite my best intentions, sometimes people are offended, whether or not the post in question has anything to do with them. I have written two other posts directly related to the process of writing and maintaining a blog:  Blog Purpose and the Personal Essay (Nov. 9, 2011) and Blog Management & Comment Policy (Apr. 23, 2012). While I don't want to rehash old ground, I think a refresher on this topic would be helpful to readers. So please read the other posts first if you want the full picture.

The priest could relate to my blog writing conundrums, as he has had similar trouble with how people perceive him in a public forum. For example, he once told a joke about lawyers during a homily, and the mother of a lawyer was deeply offended. He never told a lawyer joke again! He did suggest that I keep writing. And now a story about him has appeared in my blog, though I haven't mentioned his name. This is the way it is. If you know me, or if I have read something you have written, or if you are a stranger in the grocery store that I encounter, you may find yourself as a character in this blog. This is where I write about my life, experiences, ideas, and views. It's a place where I reflect on issues, share information, and endeavor to provoke thought and to inspire. The literary genre I employ is the personal essay, which centers around a particular theme and extends from the personal to the universal.

Think about opinion pieces in newspapers, letters to the editor, life stories in magazines, and the content of advice columns. Sometimes real names are given, sometimes not. In any case, a person may read these things and recognize himself in the stories. The persons being written about are not typically consulted. Web pages and online magazines are no different. Even works of fiction contain the disclaimer that any similarity to real people is completely a coincidence; for the very reason that a writer, even of fiction, can only effectively write about something he knows. Fictional characters are drawn from real people, sometimes of a composite nature, but based in some way, shape, or form on nonfiction. In any art form, whether it be poem, painting, letter, novel, dance, or song, you can be sure that true life experiences are being expressed. You may not like how you look in the picture, but you may find your image on a gallery wall nevertheless. And it may or may not actually be you!

Country-pop singer Taylor Swift has a song called, "Dear John".  In a magazine interview, the writer told Taylor that John Mayer had publicly protested this song, which he claimed was about their relationship. Taylor's response? "How presumptuous!" This surprised me. I mean, his name is John, and she is singing about John. It must be about him, right? Then again, John is a common name, and she may have dated more than one. There is also the convention of a "Dear John letter", which stands for any romantic break up. I imagine that the song is likely both a reflection of a specific relationship and a ballad about heartbreak in general. It's about many boyfriends all at once, inspired most perhaps by the one named John (whether or not that is really his name). But most of all, it's about Taylor. That is the point often missed. 

This is also how it goes in a work of creative nonfiction, such as the personal essay. The specific becomes the general (or vice versa), one event triggers memories of others, and something new is born. Hopefully something poetic, sublime, gritty, honest, and real. I don't live in a vacuum. It isn't possible to write about my life without including the people that are in it, or have been a part of it. Considering that Organic Mothering has been viewed over 8,000 times, it is safe to say that most of my readers don't know me at all. But as long as someone is reading, I'll keep on writing.

Blog Management & Comment Policy

Just like with any other endeavor, learning how to best manage a blog is a matter of trial and error. There are plenty of etiquette tips out there, and one good suggestion I came across is to establish a comment policy. Negative comments are, unfortunately, a likelihood, so setting down how you will deal with them is important. First of all, the general consensus is to allow dissenting views. I agree with this, but I also think boundaries are necessary to maintain a professional quality blog. Personal attacks do not belong on either the blog page or in its comments. Regardless of how carefully you try to word the views you are expressing via your blog, you cannot control what may offend another person.

I recommend regularly editing your blog content to best reflect your theme in a nonconfrontational manner, without watering down your posts and thus interfering with the integrity of your writing. Say what you have to say clearly and succinctly. Specific examples are more effective than generalized comments, so complete anonymity is not possible, nor should your readers expect it, if you are writing about your own life. It is a delicate balance, and only the continued experience of writing will achieve the desired results. Be as careful as you can with the tone of your blog, while understanding that the tone you intend and how a reader takes it may not be the same. The tone of the comments you allow should also be respectful and polite. So here is my policy:

1. My blog is my space, and I have the right to moderate all comments before choosing to post or not to post. All comments have been placed on the moderation setting, to be previewed before potential posting.
2. Polite, respectful differences of opinion will be allowed, but no personal attacks or attacks against any group of people, foul language, or comments of a nature that I deem inappropriate for whatever reason will be published. 
3. The comments option is currently open to anyone, but this status may change.
4. While I post blog links to Facebook to extend readership, I prefer comments to be made at the blog website itself, where they can be moderated. My feeling is that negativity and comments of a personal nature, as well as extended conversations and arguments, creates an unprofessional atmosphere.
5. I reserve the right to delete any comments from my Facebook wall, with no explanation.
6. Comments most likely to be published are those in reflection of the specific content of the post, rather than judgments upon me personally. I welcome opinions on the work itself.
7. My blog falls in the literary genre of the personal essay, and therefore is a work of creative nonfiction, not to be expected to be entirely factual like a newspaper article. My posts are opinion pieces from my personal perspective on a particular theme, reflecting my own experiences and supported at times by professional or factual information. A balanced approach to possible sides of any issue is not to be expected. Comments should reflect an understanding of this nature of the blog.

Blog Purpose and the Personal Essay

When I began Organic Mothering, my first post was basically a mission statement regarding the purpose of the blog and the topics that it would focus on, so readers can refer back to that entry if necessary. What I want to do now is to clarify my intentions for this space and the format in which it is written. First of all, I am a writer, and put simply, a writer must write, just as a dancer must dance and a painter must paint. Except for my poems, the literary format of my posts is the personal essay. What this means is that I write about a particular topic or theme as seen through the lens of my life. While I do quote outside sources to enhance or support my topics, my writing is primarily subjective. Objectivity is not a requirement of this literary genre.

The topics of a personal essay are typically those of great interest or passion to the author, and she shares her thoughts and opinions in light of personal experiences and real events. In this way the personal essay is a work of creative nonfiction. I rarely give the names of people, including my own, so as to keep a certain level of anonymity and to allow a broader range of expression. The element of telling a story is intrinsic to this format, so while the information is autobiographical, the real people are also characters in a story.

In a personal essay, the topic may be an issue such as a political or social concern, or a conflict of some kind. The point of the essay is to present the topic using personal stories and opinions and to end with a type of resolution--a point made, an insight gained, or a lesson learned. The events described may run the whole gamut of human emotions and experiences. The purpose of my blog is not to report events like a newspaper journalist. I do provide a great deal of information that is factual, but that is only a small aspect of what I write. Usually written in first person narrative, the personal essay is ultimately a conversation between the author and the reader.

While no one needs any special credentials to write a blog, I have a great deal of professional and educational experience that has honed my skills. I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature, and I did study poetry, informational, and magazine writing in college. I had poems published by The Ohio State University and the Jawbone Poetry Series of Kent, OH. I have been paid as a featured poet at a professional forum in Columbus, and I placed in a poetry contest through that forum. I worked as a freelance writer and editor for the McGraw-Hill publishing company and created marketing literature for a nationally known talent agency. Currently, I teach poetry classes through Keystone Co-op. I produce my blog with the highest integrity and excellence in writing that I am able.

I am grateful to all of my readers. I have always received the most help from other people's stories, and my hope is that readers will recognize their own feelings and experiences in mine. The personal essay extends to universal themes, and I want my blog to be a space for ideas, information, contemplation, artistic outlet, and entertainment. If I were to write in fear of possibly offending someone, I would not be able to be effective in this work. As my grandmother said, "Keep writing." As a writer, I have no choice. I must write.