e-mail
As you may have noticed, there’s been some action around me here lately … an announcement of a new blog I’ll be starting soon and a bit of a brouhaha going on on this one.
With all the attention, and since a few of the comments placed as responses to posts I’d written attempt to impugn my integrity and call much in the way of my talent, knowledge and judgment into question, I thought I’d take this opportunity to share the concept of honor in blogging that dictates how I work.
I’m hoping my dedication shows, and that readers have an idea of the time and effort I put into researching and composing my blogs. This is no lark for me, but a serious endeavor that demands a professional posture and the responsibility that goes with that.
You’ll notice that I write under my own name with no attempt to either hide my identity or mislead readers into thinking I’m someone other than who I am.
Although I do understand why many bloggers choose to use an assumed moniker or clever username for their work, I’m uncomfortable about the practice … unless, of course they’re blogging from somewhere where the punishment for thoughts is death.
Blogs may have gained popularity as homespun journals for family, friends and egos, but they have become an important and valued segment of the journalism establishment, and with this step into a world that should insist on legitimacy comes accountability. To me that means writers should be identified and readers should be allowed to know exactly whose words they’re reading.
Another aspect of my work ethic follows on directly from insuring people know who I am, and this involves being open in what I believe and where I stand. I come to the blogging table with my tray in full view, and anyone curious about my agenda has only to take a gander at what I freely present.
Even in my fiction … and, yes, I do write fiction as well, when I have the time and the opportunity — read, not much lately … I always begin with a commitment to what I’m about to write. If I don’t know how I feel about something that requires more than a flat detailing of details, I don’t write about it. I cannot, I will not, pretend to react. My reactions must be real and from the heart.
That brings me to another important characteristic of my writing … of my life, actually … and that is honesty.
I may be writing about finding pirate’s treasure or old ladies that come equipped with the ability to fly like Fodies, but every word of those stories will be true to the tale. Not even fiction can’t be written without honesty, no matter how wildly far out. (I should say ‘good fiction’ because there’s a lot of rubbish out there that is missing, amongst other things, the honesty it takes to make a novel worth reading.)
I’ll be continuing this in the next post.
