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July 12, 2005
Misunderstood
It is upsetting for writers when they are misunderstood.
Wait. Writing in vague, indirect generalities is what got me in trouble in the first place. I’d thought it would be gentler, less likely to offend or upset. But instead it was more likely to be misconstrued and thus more likely to offend and upset. Not at all what I had in mind.
So let me start again.
It is upsetting for me as a writer to be misunderstood, especially when it’s something I’ve written that’s been misconstrued. Because then it’s not just the upset of people believing something about me that isn’t true. Then there’s also that horrible sense of failure, knowing that I wrote badly, that I failed to accurately express my thoughts, that what my audience heard was vastly different than what I meant to say.
And that is a hard thing for a writer. It’s a hard thing for me.
Write clear or don't write at all. That’s my new motto.
But it may be a little while before I put it to use. I’m still a little pen-shy from my misstep.
I’ll just stay here for now and write to this very small audience of people who (mostly) understand me.
Posted by Selena at July 12, 2005 07:24 AM