7. I realized many bloggers find it a problem to stay open

and be their own selves while writing in their blogs as they get more and more public. Is that a problem to you? If so, how do you deal with it?

I think that it is author Julian Barnes that said that all biography is fiction. In the act of relating an event, it is colored by our perceptions and our own bias. Other people may see it in a totally different point of view. I have had online arguments with other people over a shared event because we did not agree on what had actually happened.

In my case, after I restarted my blog, I made a conscious effort not to be too literal in events that happened to me. I make comedic embellishments or dramatic turns in my blogs. I find that it makes for more entertaining reading sometimes. I mean, all of it is true, but maybe not the whole truth.

It’s like the movies, everything I write is BASED ON A TRUE EVENT.

Because of my literary flourishes, I think my friends understand that what I write is not the “true” version of them. I exaggerate events, physical attributes, the size of my...ego. I also tend not to use the real names of people, that way I can express my thoughts more freely and not have to share any royalties. I am a greedy motherfucker.

I guess I have not really discussed my blog with my friends that much. My brother told me once that he views my blog more as a literary work than a diary or journal. Lynda Barry, the famous cartoonist, coined the term “autobifictionalography” in reference to her series of semi-autobiographical cartoons called “One Hundred Demons”. I like that term very much.


NEXT: I try to invite comments by leaving a picture of my pimply ass