Things have gone all kinds of wrong this week, on both the personal and writing fronts. I would love to rant a little about the writing side of it and get some of the support and commiseration that fellow bloggers and writers are so good at. But I don't dare, for fear that some day an agent or editor might do a search on me and my digital dirt would be revealed. I've seen warnings all over the blogosphere to be careful what you put out there because too much complaining or too much personal information might cause a publishing professional to pause or even pass.
I read a blog of another writer and while I find her posts interesting, I cringe to read some of the REALLY personal stuff that she puts out there. I understand that it is who she is and she writes about it because it defines her in many ways. But I also know that it is the kind of thing that would throw up warning signs about her ability to be a professional writer (meaning one who can meet deadlines, market herself in a polished way, and so on). This writer is in the query stages and I want to email her and say 'Be Careful!!' But I don't know her enough to do that, although sometimes I feel I do, courtesy of the strange pseudo-intimacy that blogging sometimes promotes.
In the meantime, I try to keep my own thoughts and blog posts free of digital dirt. How about you? How careful are you about what you post? Do you read other blogs that are too personal? Do you know anyone whose digital dirt came back to haunt them?
I do tend to be careful about what I post- I try to keep it cheery and upbeat.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the writing!
I'm hyper-aware of this after making a huge faux pas years ago--I complained about coworkers on a personal blog I thought they didn't know about. Talk about naive and incredibly stupid. And of course it blew up in a very ugly way.
ReplyDeleteI struggle now to include much of anything personal because it's easier to not make such a dumb mistake again when I keep it all about my professional aspirations and my expertise as an editor.
But "platform" is also about one's passions that make you the unique writer you are. As Stephanie said, it's good to do that in an upbeat manner.
My most commented-upon post was somewhat controversial. I don't like the disappearing parents in YA and argued for using teen's parents more organically in plot.
Stephanie, your blogs are so much fun to read, so I'm glad you keep it upbeat.
ReplyDeleteLaurel, big YIKES. That must have been awful. And I agree, the blog if for showing who you are as a writer. I'm really trying to leave my personal rants and my everyday frustrations (even if some of them are about agents and writing) here at home where they belong.