Writing 寫作
Honestly, I am traumatized since an early schooling age about writing, and speaking, for that matter. The 作文 (composition) and 說話 (speaking) classes always filled me with a sense of wariness and denial. That was when the martial law was in place in Taiwan, so everything felt fake. Even as a third-grader I felt the pressure to self-censor. Writing and speaking in public had since become synonymous with self-inhibition and oppression.
Decades later, I regained love of writing in serendipitously starting and maintaining a pseudonymous page about language, which eventually had 12,000+ followers before I let it lie fallow one day (saw the sign coming). The main reason: the writing became no longer for self-expression but pressured, more tailored for playing to the gallery. In other words, the abominable self-censor kicked in again.
The writing success in pseudonymity does not translate easily into a named one. Even though I stand by everything I wrote, there was a sense of freedom in pseudonymity: so many core-belief truths would never be said in public as me. That's painful. Though against my nature to tell it like it is, I've grown more politic. Still a ways to go to match the level of suavity I observed in some colleagues in T&I and teaching.
Now as I look back at this, I am hoping, while prudently keeping expectations to a minimum, I can write (more) freely again in a happy medium between truthful self-expression and contributing what I could to public good in the spirit of
The mechanics of writing
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Tim Ferriss on writing
#mynote
Write anything. Stream of consciousness, whatever.
It comes down to contract writing.
Writing is in fact re-writing.
Write two crappy pages. Can be brain vomit. Doesn't matter.
first edit for yourself
second edit for readers
final edit for critics
highlight anything that's unclear or confusing
Dictum: When in doubt, take it out.
#mynote/e