(no subject)

[botias]

For Christmas... I want a dozen anonymous people to be secretly fascinated by my Journal. There are some reasons why this will not be the case:

1. I don't have enough problems.
   
2. I'm not witty enough to make up for #1.
   
3. I don't include any sex to compensate for #2
   
4. I don't really want a dozen anonymous people to read my Journal.
   
5. (Yoo Hoo! If you're out there, Hi! *waves*)
   

OK I never did bake the poor guy a pie. But I did watch Episode I with him unto the late hours of the night, last night, and even suggested that we watch the last bit over.

Comments

[elynne.livejournal.com]

*nod* Yeah, I can understand that. At the end of Five Hundred Years After (Stephen Brust, kind of a takeoff of DuMas' Three Musketeers series, humorous fantasy and excellent fun), the authors interview each other (freakin' hilarious, and you just have to read it to understand), and the question of who the author writes for is brought up. I don't remember conciously thinking about it before that point, and I've never come to a firm conclusion... but I'd have to say that even when I'm writing something that I know nobody else will ever ever read, I'm still writing for an audience, to some extent. On the other hand, unless I'm writing something with a specific focus - a resume, letter to someone, or a story with a certain theme, that audience is very general... and really, I'm writing to myself. It's hard to explain; I think it has to do with how I think about myself and how I present myself to the world, because to me journal-writing in particular is much more about thought processes than it is about a daily to-do / have-done list, or a regular paper or magazine column.

Hm.

Aha! The stage analogy is actually a pretty good one; for me, journaling is exactly like improv, while writing stories or letters or whatever is the equivalent of a rehearsed scene or skit. Improv isn't always completely improvisational; there's often an element (sometimes a very strong one) of forethought, but I usually find that once I get going, I kind of lose track and ramble in whatever direction seems like a good idea at the time. Even so, I've always got one eye on the audience (though I can't actually see them, of course), and a part of my mind is trying to gauge what the reaction will be, what will be approved, how it will be taken. When I'm in my stride I know what works, and what doesn't. When I'm not in my stride, it's really easy to tell, because I use lots of long rambly run-on sentences that never seem to get anywhere. ;P

It's good to know that you're basically doing an open-journal kind of thing, as I found myself wondering who your audience was. I didn't feel uncomfortable about it, just - aware, and it seemed a bit odd, but I know several other folks who do the same thing - though they usually don't post as often or write as well as you. :)

[botias.livejournal.com]

I think having an audience does help, even if it's just the possibility of a random one. I can't help but make more of an effort to be entertaining. It just isn't in me.

I think I've got a better picture now of how LiveJournal works though. You're kinda supposed to find other folks that seem compatible and make comments that they will hopefully reciprocate. I would be unsurprised to find that there is a certain status in having a good sized community, rather like the number of folks in one's orbit at a party. Currently I'm the dreadful one in the corner with a book, muttering a bit too loudly about ungrateful fish. *hee*