I've been a quiet blogger lately
I'm not sure I'm cut out for this blogging thing. I guess I don't know what I think of it yet. I think I'm too scared that I'm going to say something that will come back to haunt me in the future. Maybe I'll say something that will impact my ability to get a job in the future, or maybe I'll say something that will hurt the feelings of longtime friends or my family.
At any rate, I look at this blog, and I'm paralyzed. I don't know what is okay to write and what's off limits. It's a wierd forum, one that is open to the world but so very personal at the same time. It's like saying "Dear Diary ... PS Hello New York City." You know? Anyone in the world could stumble across this message, future bosses, future friends, future enemies (as if anyone could hate me : P ). And what will they think of me based on these words?
I'm reading a book right now that's at least partially about silences and finding the silences in your writing. It's a book by Julie Jung called Revisionary Rhetoric, Feminist Pedagogy, and Multigenre Texts. First off, it's a cool book because it cites and quotes some very good friends of mine. What's up Marie Moeller! Howdy Lori O : ) Hey Teryn. But I think the coolest thing is that it clearly articulates something about silences that I wasn't really getting before, even though I took a course with Julie Jung where we examined our silences.
We did this exercise in that class where we journaled about our silences, which you reading this blog will most likely NEVER hear about. Because they do the things that I'm most worried about above. At any rate, I think that I journaled about times when I was silenced, as in times when I didn't have the courage to speak out. These were times when what I had to say went against the status quo and might have angered those listening to the conversation or times when I was worried that what I would say would make me sound stupid. With me these types of silences happen quite frequently. I'm kind of a quiet and shy guy, and I avoid confrontation like I avoid a salad bar after watching someone hack up a lung all over the sneeze guard.
But after reading through Jung's book, I think I've come to realize I was approaching the assignment from the wrong sort of angle. Instead of documenting times when I was afraid to speak out, I should have been filling in the gaps in my writing, finding spots in my writing where the actual writing didn't tell the whole story. In doing so, I could begin to examine why some of the story was left untold. Those are the most powerful silences, the ones where you have the need or the impetus to write about an issue or an event and you deliberately avoid a certain aspect of that issue or event because to voice it would be uncomfortable.
It brings me to some advice from another professor of mine (Go Kim Stone!), that we should "mind the gaps." So I guess you could say that writing is like riding the tube in London. Always be aware of what you're avoiding.
So anyway, if you're interested in Feminism, teaching, or writing, go pick up Julie's book. It's a good read.
Until next time,
Brad
At any rate, I look at this blog, and I'm paralyzed. I don't know what is okay to write and what's off limits. It's a wierd forum, one that is open to the world but so very personal at the same time. It's like saying "Dear Diary ... PS Hello New York City." You know? Anyone in the world could stumble across this message, future bosses, future friends, future enemies (as if anyone could hate me : P ). And what will they think of me based on these words?
I'm reading a book right now that's at least partially about silences and finding the silences in your writing. It's a book by Julie Jung called Revisionary Rhetoric, Feminist Pedagogy, and Multigenre Texts. First off, it's a cool book because it cites and quotes some very good friends of mine. What's up Marie Moeller! Howdy Lori O : ) Hey Teryn. But I think the coolest thing is that it clearly articulates something about silences that I wasn't really getting before, even though I took a course with Julie Jung where we examined our silences.
We did this exercise in that class where we journaled about our silences, which you reading this blog will most likely NEVER hear about. Because they do the things that I'm most worried about above. At any rate, I think that I journaled about times when I was silenced, as in times when I didn't have the courage to speak out. These were times when what I had to say went against the status quo and might have angered those listening to the conversation or times when I was worried that what I would say would make me sound stupid. With me these types of silences happen quite frequently. I'm kind of a quiet and shy guy, and I avoid confrontation like I avoid a salad bar after watching someone hack up a lung all over the sneeze guard.
But after reading through Jung's book, I think I've come to realize I was approaching the assignment from the wrong sort of angle. Instead of documenting times when I was afraid to speak out, I should have been filling in the gaps in my writing, finding spots in my writing where the actual writing didn't tell the whole story. In doing so, I could begin to examine why some of the story was left untold. Those are the most powerful silences, the ones where you have the need or the impetus to write about an issue or an event and you deliberately avoid a certain aspect of that issue or event because to voice it would be uncomfortable.
It brings me to some advice from another professor of mine (Go Kim Stone!), that we should "mind the gaps." So I guess you could say that writing is like riding the tube in London. Always be aware of what you're avoiding.
So anyway, if you're interested in Feminism, teaching, or writing, go pick up Julie's book. It's a good read.
Until next time,
Brad
posted by Brad Smith at 2:02 PM
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