Opinions. We all have them. As bloggers we put ours out there for the public to scrutinize every day, and scrutinized they are. Some of us know more intimately than others how harshly our opinions can be crushed by a troll. But still, the strongest of us brush it off and persist.
Is it possible to write without, in some capacity, revealing an opinion? Even in fiction there must be a part of our lives, our experiences, in what we say. So we write and we hope that people out there will find something of value in what we say. If we didn’t feel passionate about what we do, or what we have to share, we wouldn’t do it, right?
After all, we could just stick to posting pictures of flowers…
The posts in the category “Yesterday’s News” reflect inspiration found in the previous day’s edition of my local newspaper. They are not a retelling of the news. This is a challenge to post a blog entry once a day, every day until Hallowe’en, and possibly beyond.
lindaghill.com 
November 9, 2013 at 2:33 pm
I took a journalism class a while back. I decided not to go any farther into that selection of a major because you have to leave your own opinion behind. I knew at 50 something that would be impossible. Instead of writing people oriented pieces I wrote about software or newest technology. I got good grades with that strategy. Obviously, it worked well on my blog recently. Meh.
On FaceBook, I lost a friend. It made me so sad. Now looking back on the situation I think, ‘I don’t go to other people’s walls and pick fights. I don’t go to other people’s blogs to disagree. If I don’t agree, I move on. I was taught if I don’t have anything good to say to say nothing at all. That is not to say that we can’t have discussions to educate. But much of what happens is bullying those who have differing opinions. My two cents.
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November 9, 2013 at 8:21 pm
Agreed. The faceless internet doesn’t help matters at all. In the past, a ninety pound weakling would never go up against a varsity football player. Now all bets are off. We can’t let the bullies win, no matter who they are.
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October 19, 2013 at 10:03 pm
It is my opinion that the picture of flowers is exceptionally lovely. No, the true writer cannot write without revealing a voice, a point of view and an opinion.
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October 20, 2013 at 10:48 am
Right. And if we’re not revealing our own voice then we’re not being true to ourselves, and I think that shows.
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October 18, 2013 at 10:51 pm
I love your post. I write, most of the time, because I want to tell the world how I see and feel about them without any fear of repercussions and maybe someone will learn something from my thoughts.
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October 19, 2013 at 2:17 pm
An excellent attitude in which to write! It’s the best we can hope for, isn’t it? To teach and, to entertain. 🙂
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October 18, 2013 at 6:28 pm
We do write what we do because we are passionate about it. With that said, if we post these thoughts on the world wide web, then we must expect some amount of criticism along the way. Not everyone is going to agree with what we say. However, a nice friendly debate is almost always interesting and entertaining. It also helps us to see a point of view different from our own.
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October 18, 2013 at 9:02 pm
Very true. And if we can stay open minded, we can even learn something out of such debates. 🙂
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October 18, 2013 at 4:29 pm
I once created a sexist character in a play I wrote; everyone accused me of being sexist. They couldn’t make the leap between the character and the author. A good and interesting post, Linda.
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October 18, 2013 at 4:56 pm
And yet there was probably something in that play that showed your true opinion on the subject, yes? If we’re too subtle, people tend to miss it.
Thanks, Bruce. 🙂
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October 18, 2013 at 3:54 pm
Technically, journalists are supposed to write without opinions. Doesn’t always seem to be that way. You’ll always have those trolls who judge their worth by tearing others down. Hopefully most people simply debate.
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October 18, 2013 at 4:55 pm
The article that inspired this post was an opinion piece on writers writing their opinions. I guess I should have mentioned that. 😛
I agree that trolls are only trying to prove they are better than the person they are cutting down. Obviously the concept of irony escapes them. But yeah, we can all hope for a healthy debate once in a while, as long as it stays healthy.
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October 18, 2013 at 6:13 pm
Health debates are how ideas and opinions evolve.
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October 18, 2013 at 9:00 pm
You’re right, in many cases they are the best inspiration there is.
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October 18, 2013 at 3:49 pm
Nothing wrong with pissing people off once in a while!
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October 18, 2013 at 4:52 pm
I don’t know… if you’re expecting it because you’re doing it on purpose, does it hurt less?
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October 18, 2013 at 4:57 pm
Haha. I don’t do it on purpose. Like you said, if you state an opinion, someone is going to disagree and possibly get pissed off. But you can’t go through life keeping your opinions hidden because you’re afraid to upset such people.
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October 18, 2013 at 5:01 pm
I agree, but sadly, many people do. I think we writers, if anything, give people who don’t write the courage to express their opinions, knowing that someone else shares them.
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October 18, 2013 at 3:49 pm
I feel like once I became an author…whether author of a blog or a book…even a Facebook poster…my life became an open book. I can’t help but feel that my characters in book writing share my opinions. or least reflect some of them through their actions, behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. It is very self-disclosing to write. Some bloggers are anonymous and don’t feel that so intensely, I suppose, but once you are public…well, you are public.
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October 18, 2013 at 4:50 pm
I can imagine even the anonymous bloggers feel it. Opinions are very personal, and to have them rejected can cut deep.
We really do open ourselves up. I think it takes a certain amount of bravery.
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