Emotion and writing tend to go hand
in hand in my opinion. Often what we write, our tone, style, structure, and
overall theme is generally influenced by our emotions. Whether it’s the outside
emotions, or emotional connection to the work itself, or our emotional
connection to the topic. I think there’s an element of vulnerability to emotion
that makes writing, and revision in particular very difficult. Vulnerability is
often the Achilles heel of most writers. We all struggle with vulnerability in
different ways, typically with the concept of exposing our vulnerabilities not
just within our writing but exposing it for criticism and judgement by our
peers and ultimately the audience.
In “The Emotional Work of Revision”
there were different forms of vulnerability discussed and the most interesting
concept of that for me was the idea of competence, that “feelings of
vulnerability would seem inevitable when sharing work with others, the anxiety
it triggers can cause even advanced student writers to fundamentally question
their competence,” (Ballenger, 7). I found this interesting because I struggle
personally with vulnerability and yet it’s never linked to competence but
instead often linked to my ability to be open. For me vulnerability makes me
question my message, and the ability to be heard versus the actually competency
of my abilities. I think that’s the fascinating aspect of human development is
how the differences in our personalities can influence the outcome so
drastically of how we feel about ourselves and the things we do.
The benefit of vulnerability and
emotion within our writing is the “caring” factor like Ballenger mentions, but
I also think it makes us more credible as writers as well as more authentic. Because
through our vulnerability we’re able to tap into deeper emotions, which helps
us connect with our writing on a deeper level, and also helps us connect to and
develop a relationship with the audience.
I think
that the connection between metanoia and vulnerability also builds upon this
same connection. As Myers recognizes, metanoia can be freeing (17), facing our
vulnerability can be terrifying because it requires admitting to and
recognizing what makes us feel vulnerable but also extremely freeing because it
allows us to face what bothers us most, analyze the vulnerability and search
for a solution to overcome the vulnerability. Something as writers I think we
have a lot of experience with and correlates with revision because when we
revise our work, we’re searching out problems within our writing, evaluating
and analyzing our work and seeking out solutions to improve upon our writing,
develop better depth, and foster a relationship with our audience. All aspects
of writing, particularly the revision process that are necessary to be
successful.
-Becca
Hi Becca,
ReplyDeleteThe distinction you make between vulnerability that is linked to feelings of competence and vulnerability related to "openness" is really interesting. On some level, writing is always a vulnerable act. Our textual selves are always on display. Many of us develop writing strategies for managing the feeling of exposure. I think this is one reason why some writers are drawn to fiction over nonfiction, for example, or find the author-evacuated prose of much academic writing comforting. I wonder how you manage it as a writer, and I'd love to hear from others who can relate to this in some way.
I find that for me, the only way to manage that feeling of being unheard or misunderstood comes out often in my writing because of my tendency to overwrite, and beat the dead horse so to speak. I've found thats where revision becomes helpful in helping me dial back the need to overwrite make my point concise while still feeling like my message is being heard.
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