mercredi, octobre 17, 2007

The public life

Thanks to her gracious willingness to let me troll for possible contributors, I'm going to have a "guest spot on Leslie Morgan Steiner's "On Balance" blog sometime soon. I told my daughter that tonight and she asked if I would mention her. I confessed that I am ambivalent about mentioning my kids and their identities on my 'blog. After all, I am strewing words on a public document which can be seen by readers as far away as China and as close as my friend down the block.

Not to mention that writing about one's family, particularly as a journalist who is published fairly regularly, might even been seen by some members as exploitative. And, judging by the lawsuits brought occasionally by family members against each other, they are.

I hope that my kids will forgive me, as they grow mature enough to ponder the compromises of a writer's life, if I have opened up any cupboards and revealed things that they didn't wish to be mentioned. I don't think I have, thus far.

Does this reluctance to explore the less lovely elements in our family life hamper me as a writer? I dunno-I doubt it, though. On the whole, you know, I'd much rather write about your family, than about mine.

Aucun commentaire: