Great post. Loved this line, “It is never my intention to write anything controversial, but when you’re honest, controversy is often a byproduct.”

There are probably some who do write just to be controversial, but the truth is, everyone will NOT agree with you. And sometimes it feels scary when you’ve shared your heart and there is opposition. But that’s okay. If you’re honest you’ll admit you don’t agree with everything everyone else says either.

Like “bubble butt monkeys.” I never could understand why God made them, but that’s just my opinion. For all I know, some people may like them. And God saw a reason for them.

I had to risk writing something scary because without doing that I was only telling part of my story. And some of my story was scary.

Good points Bryan. I’ve been doing morning pages since the first time I read Julia Cameron. It’s the best form of healing I’ve ever found.

Regarding asking for legal advice on certain things, I don’t know why it’s something I never thought of but a really good point. Thank you!

Renia, my advice is to write what you want to write first and then if you’re not certain you should share it, talk to those people about it and ask them. However, if you already know they’d rather keep certain things secret then change the names of whoever is involved and don’t reveal personal details that could identify who they are. Still, there are instances when you may need to reveal certain things in order to tell your story honestly, in those cases it’s important to talk to a legal expert who can help guide you on how to go about it legally.

Sometimes it’s important to write about things just for ourselves, and not as important to reveal them to the world. A personal journal or diary is excellent for that type of writing.

Thanks for letting me know you’re enjoying “Writer’s Doubt,” Michelle!

My suggestion is to start revealing more to yourself first, perhaps in a personal journal or diary. Once you get used to writing about the stuff you usually keep hidden, then it becomes a matter of figuring out how you want to reveal that publicly, but keep in mind you don’t have to reveal everything about yourself to your readers. What you want to do is be honest and that doesn’t necessarily mean revealing every mysterious secret in your closet. 🙂