There is an art to writing, and it is not always disclosure. The act itself can be beautiful, revelatory, and private.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
To me, writing is a considered act. It's something which is a great labor of thought and consideration.
There are so many ways of posturing that people associate with being a writer. They imagine you wearing a beret and drinking only red wine and being full of yourself, and so, for a long time, the way I felt about writing was too private. I felt it too important and didn't want to be teased about it. So I lied about it.
One of the things that probably drew me to writing was that it was something you could get on with by yourself. Publishing means going public. But the actual activity could scarcely be more invisible. And private.
If you're writing, you're starting in private. It can really be this amazing, private, freeing experience. Forget that it's for other people - that comes in later.
Writing is always personal in some way but not always in a direct way.
Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.
Preserving that privacy between a writer and the work is important. You have to shut out all those voices that have reacted to your work.
For me, writing isn't a way of being public or private; it's just a way of being. The process is always full of pain, but I like that. It's a reality, and I just accept it as something not to be avoided.
What writing does is to reveal.
I was going to say that writing is about disclosure and acting is about obfuscation, but that's such a little lie. Both of them are about obfuscation and masking oneself.