Scared to write what you really think?

many of us are.

The ones who are not about subterfuge in their writing are those who often practice the subterfuge of a nom de plume.

When I started my blog, it was originally called Adrienne's Catholic Corner, and was focused mainly on Catholic matters. When the Catholic blogosphere devolved into infighting and outright nastiness, the blog morphed into politics since politics was much tamer than a bunch of Catholics duking it out.

I also naively wrote under my own name.  If interested, my average reader, in a matter of minutes,  could locate me, find my phone number, and zero in on my home by way of satellite view.

Does that change what I'm writing.  Somewhat.

I try to be respectful of my commenters and not too harsh about the people I write about.  When it comes to Odumbo, though, all bets are off. Despicable is despicable, and he is definitely despicable.

Last week, I read a wonderful article by Deena Nataf, published at Write to Done, entitled Scared to Write What You Really Think? Why it Will Make You a Better Writer.

Deena led off with:

The memory still sends shivers down your spine.

Maybe it was a post you wrote on Facebook or on your own blog.

You hit Enter or Publish, congratulated yourself, and moved on to your next task.

An hour later, a reply! And the first three words were…

How dare you

Your heart started beating a mile a minute. Your mouth was dry. Your breathing, shallow.

With shaking hands, you went online to read the rest of the comment—best to get it over with quickly and then assess the damage. 

Most of us have experienced this, haven’t we?

I sure have.

I care about what people think, and disapproval crushes me. I’ve always found myself apologizing for my unconventional choices, and backtracking on my opinions.

Then I started a blog.

That’s when I learned that if I let other people’s opinions inform and guide me, I didn’t stand a chance. 

I know that feeling well.  Disapproval did crush me.  I want people to liiiiiiike me.  In particular, the "big" bloggers, who I thought were so smart.

But something has changed since this presidential primary got started 10 or so years ago - at least it seems like that.  I no longer get crushed or give much of a rip if people don't like me.  I have come to trust my own judgement as to the people running for the nomination of the presidency.  And I've discovered some of those "big" bloggers are not quite as smart as I thought they were.

The face of the enemy

And while I may disagree with your judgement, one thing I will never do is call you "stupid" or any of the creative insults being flung around like rice at a wedding.  And it appears the anti-Trump people are way better at gratuitous insults than the Trump followers.

Keep in mind we have only one enemy.  The enemy is Hillary Clinton and her crime family.  These are odious and dangerous people, and to give them a chance to gain the White House is sheer lunacy.

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Deena's article on writing is excellent and I highly recommend you read it.  She also has her own blog called Bullet Proof Writing.