PR is not my strongest quality. I'm sure many people can relate to this sentiment--I just don't like sharing with others. It's not that I don't like people, I really really do. But I don't like handing out fliers, I don't like talking about my feelings, and I don't like asking for help. In fact, I'm kind of afraid of it. Robbie talks about something similar in his blog post about sharing music lyrics with his band mates. Sometimes, the prospect of sharing part of your soul with others is absolutely mortifying. So most of the time, I just don't. As a soft-spoken younger sibling of someone who was always happy to take the spotlight, and with a group of avid book-readers for close friends, I've gotten away with this for most of my life. Nobody has asked me to do anything too terribly far outside my comfort zone.
However, as an English major, I've discovered that writing is all about finding an audience and sharing, so I've reluctantly started to turn myself over to the inevitable. But even so, my first attempts to circulate and share my ideas for this paper online and with friends have been halfhearted. I posted my tweethis statement as a Facebook status and then indifferently left it there to die. I did get one comment from Tori on my blog post suggesting a change in wording to help clarify, which I really appreciated. I read her tweethis statement in return, where she talks about control issues in Ella Enchanted and Alice in Wonderland. Reading it sort of busted me out of character comparisons, which is my go-to strategy for literary analysis. As I thought about it, I started to consider another, much more interesting topic for me to write about. I've even started to get excited about it, which is a huge relief because it's hard to write about something you don't care about.
I really appreciate the help that I've gotten from reading the thoughtful, insightful posts of other members of the class, and as I've started to share with a little more enthusiasm and vigor, I've started to get more of a response from friends and family. The feedback I've gotten from others and giving feedback myself has helped me decide what it is I really want to write about, which I'll share with you all soon :)
An honest post. I think many English majors are a bit more reserved; it's part of the "bookish" identity, and that's okay. I also appreciate the efforts you are making and that it can be half-hearted at first. Do give it a chance. Just the little bit of feedback you received form Tori should encourage more sharing. And be smart about what you share with whom. No need to cast pearls before swine (However, some folks are less swine-like than we might fear...)
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