We’re living in an age of sharing—or perhaps of oversharing. We’re not just sharing our stories, we’re also often promoting ourselves, building a personal brand, or creating an “author platform” for our work and our careers. To be a writer is to ask if or how or how much to share. And those can be burdensome questions, especially for those of us who just want to write our stories and be left alone.
Sounds like someone needs to write “The Art of Sharing”? The kids like to bring home one-liners from school and “Sharing is caring” could apply here too. Caring meaning you care enough about what you’ve written to share it--and you care enough about the recipient to want them to receive it.
Writers need to think of themselves as a brand now more than ever. Your quote "Art is fundamentally an act of exposure" echoes my belief that art needs a recipient. Without a recipient (one), art doesn't exist.
Yes! I see this sharing thing as maybe also a generational thing. In my generation (oh, that sounds old!) we didn't share. "What would people think," were words that governed our behavior. It's difficult, and probably always will be, to share my personal essay work, because it is . . .personal. I'll always have that moment of "what will they think" before I hit "share," but then let it go as I value its importance.
Love this. Thank you. Eloquent truth about the journey we're on and our desire to make meaningful connection. The last sentence is so spot on. Thrilled you quoted Brene. She has taught me about things I didn't know that I didn't know, and Brene's research is the foundation of my April series on Growing Emotional Intelligence. My upcoming offering I'm writing is on Shame, Guilt, and Self-compassion. Perfect timing. We can only hope that by sharing our experiences, other writers will understand, moving through these emotions is part of the process and comes with their own personal rewards.
"I suppose somewhere within myself I believed my stories weren’t good enough—or feared that others’ reactions would prove they weren’t good enough. Perhaps I worried about being exposed as a creative charlatan, a dilettante, a fool." -- Uhm yeah, guilty as charged. Anyone else, and can we please start a self-help group for this? :-)
Wow, loved this! Thank you for the kind mention Grant!
Sounds like someone needs to write “The Art of Sharing”? The kids like to bring home one-liners from school and “Sharing is caring” could apply here too. Caring meaning you care enough about what you’ve written to share it--and you care enough about the recipient to want them to receive it.
Writers need to think of themselves as a brand now more than ever. Your quote "Art is fundamentally an act of exposure" echoes my belief that art needs a recipient. Without a recipient (one), art doesn't exist.
Yes! I see this sharing thing as maybe also a generational thing. In my generation (oh, that sounds old!) we didn't share. "What would people think," were words that governed our behavior. It's difficult, and probably always will be, to share my personal essay work, because it is . . .personal. I'll always have that moment of "what will they think" before I hit "share," but then let it go as I value its importance.
Love this. Thank you. Eloquent truth about the journey we're on and our desire to make meaningful connection. The last sentence is so spot on. Thrilled you quoted Brene. She has taught me about things I didn't know that I didn't know, and Brene's research is the foundation of my April series on Growing Emotional Intelligence. My upcoming offering I'm writing is on Shame, Guilt, and Self-compassion. Perfect timing. We can only hope that by sharing our experiences, other writers will understand, moving through these emotions is part of the process and comes with their own personal rewards.
Great article! I so agree that art is an act of exposure. Your thoughts on sharing a story with one person resonate. Love the Basquiat photo!
"I suppose somewhere within myself I believed my stories weren’t good enough—or feared that others’ reactions would prove they weren’t good enough. Perhaps I worried about being exposed as a creative charlatan, a dilettante, a fool." -- Uhm yeah, guilty as charged. Anyone else, and can we please start a self-help group for this? :-)