hal tweets ·7:42 AM
A short piece I wrote for AOLnews about why Peep culture trumps privacy online. http://bit.ly/bQECsC
2008,
1:11 GMT
More on the 'Mean' and Some Current Events in Hal's Life
Posted by Hal
Okay, so it's true - my first mean comment wasn't that mean. I wasn't, like, staying up all night shattered or anything, don't get the wrong idea. My able readers have put me in my place pointing out that I need to get a thicker skin (okay, okay, I was exaggerating my pain) and otherwise contributing to the discussion. There are two comments I want to address here of the 6 I received (a record!) plus a few more on my facebook page.
First from Mark, the original 'mean' comment creator. He writes: "So, what did I mean by personal risk? It seems to me that if we are going to explore this “new realm” of socializing, we cannot just sit back and watch, but actually participate as well. If that means allowing the unseen, unwashed masses, a long stare into what makes Hal Niedzviecki tick, isn't that worth it? And ultimately, wouldn't that produce a better book (not one to collect dust like so many coffee table tomes)?"
Yeah, that's exactly what I'm trying to do. I want to experience this "new realm" and I'm doing my best to get into it even though much of it goes against my nature. Unlike Mark, a writer and a publisher I remember from the days when I used to write zine reviews for Broken Pencil, I rarely write in the first person and in my stories and novels no one ever confuses my characters with me. To be completely honest, I think that's one of the reasons those books haven't exactly broken any records at the box office if you know what I mean (or maybe they just weren't that good). At any rate, in the peep age we want to connect directly to the person behind the persona and don't seem to have any patience for stories that don't have the ring of truth, the aura of authentic autobiography. So Mark, I say go with it: if people want to confuse you with your character, it's to your advantage to play along. And as for me, I'm going to keep trying to give the readers of this blog "the long stare" and hopefully come out the other end both a better writer and someone better able to write about what makes not just Hal tick but our entire peep culture.
The other comment I wanted to quote verbatim here is from Nancymarie, whose blog is a really excellent example of someone who is really sharing the intimate details of her life to all who care to read. She writes: "It’s always hard to open up in a blog because you open yourself up to criticism, and who wants to be taken to task by complete strangers?" This is true. Maybe it's something that's holding me back more than I realize. Maybe I actually am worried about what people will think of me as opposed to my work and ideas. I don't know. I'm going to think about that one. In the meantime, Nancymarie is writing about her dad going into a coma and being put into a rest home, which makes my petty problems seem..well..petty. Nancymarie, who lives in Iowa I think, also writes about her weight, her periods, and a former friend stalking her gaming blog. That's the level of revelation I want to get to. I'm nowhere there yet. Not even close.
So I'll end with a few other snippets. As I type this W. is fighting with my mom on the phone. It's Passover this weekend and my parents are coming into town and the combination of holidays and parental units always leads to stress and conflict, as I'm sure most of you know. No big deal and it will all blow over. But it still sucks. Luckily the stress of this fight is somewhat alleviated by the fact that my friend from across the street came over for dinner with his daughter (who goes to the same daycare as E.) and I barbecued steaks and we all ate meat washed down with beer and juice (I'll let you figure out who drank what beverage). There's nothing like steak and beer to cheer up Hal. So that's all for now. Talk to ya soon.
There are -11- Comments: , Add yours…
20:11
Well, the good blogs <span class=“caps”>ALL</span> open themselves up. Otherwise it’s just boring. I don’t wanna read your diary unless you have some good smut in it, you know?
Give us a little… I bet you’ll get more return visitors. 
20:11
I’m not sure that researching and writing about what you call peep culture — and evaluating how others expose themselves — obliges you to expose yourself as well. And in any event, blogging about your personal discomfort with self-exposure is probably as revealing as posting lurid details of your life might be.
As for J and MM’s comments, above, it’s my view that all writing is revelatory of the author in various and identifiable ways. It’s not [only] about first person or the multiplicity of anyone’s being — we expose ourselves through our choice of subject matter, perspective, idiom, genre, etc.. Even a stated desire for privacy [or the protestation that one’s work is not autobiographical] is a kind of confession.
20:11
Janine, what is so offensive about the first person perspective? Or is this simply your standard CanLit bias showing? The only thing that I “hate” are individuals that earn themselves a B.A. and actually think that they are educated. Canadian writers need to pull themselves out of the doldrums of endless creative writing classes and actually start breaking some hard and fast “fiction” rules. We are living in a post-literate age: anything goes. As does peep culture. How can we confuse the character with the author? That’s been going in the modern novel for over a century. It’s a device, nothing more, nothing less. Every time I use the first person, is that necessarily me? Of course not. As a writer, I am in there somewhere, but it is not complete autobiography; yet neither is it complete fiction. As Walt Witman said in “Leaves of Grass”: I contradict myself, I contain multitudes. So do I. So does my fiction. Every use of the ‘I’ is different. As far as Hal’s blog goes, he’s as complicated as I, or you, or anyone: when he reveals himself in the first person (as I’m certain he will), we will discover many facets of his life and personality revealed, just as we find in his fiction.
20:11
Hi hal! i hear you on the first person thing-on average i hate when people write in the first person(with exceptions like john irving novels for example.) every story in my college fiction workshop was thinly veiled autobiography and it was miserable having to pretend that it wasn’t. good fiction is just that- fiction. it should not confuse the writer with the character and i think it’s great that you recognize that. I find that personal blog writing comes easiest to me when i just ignore all of my fiction writing rules. first person becomes okay, grammar becomes obsolete and any kind of educated vocabulary goes out the window. for me it’s not so much about revealing yourself as who you really are in your entirety, but presenting a persona that is fun to write as. i look to blogging as free therapy. in terms of reading i find all my favorite blogs are opinion oriented like dlisted.com and quizlaw.com. if you want to take the easy road you could also draw in a bigger crowd with lots of cute animal picutres, i guarantee you’ll see your audience expand immediately. that’s my $.02 (not that you asked for it!)
20:11
So <span class=“caps”>THAT</span> was mean. Geez.
20:11
No offence, but you are a boring man. Do you have nothing better to do than writing a lot of BS? Go get a job.
15:18
Sorry man, the link you posted to doesn’t work for me… Maybe it’s just a problem of my corporate proxy but anyways maybe there is an alternative one? Thanks in advance
5:34
Hello guys!
take a nice bath before bed(bubbles,magazines,candels,music) and have some tea before bed…buy zoloft
14:11
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The Bloggist
Hey, I’m Hal Niedzviecki. I’m a writer/thinker who lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with my wife and daughter. Up till now I’ve always considered myself a private person. But at the same time I’m fascinated by people who effortlessly open themselves up to the whole world. So I’ve… more...
A short piece I wrote for AOLnews about why Peep culture trumps privacy online. http://bit.ly/bQECsC
New content on the Broken Pencil website! Short fiction: Shack the Clam Girl + How to Make Your Own Game Cabinet http://bit.ly/b6CHLP
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