I just wanted to point out that pseudonymity =/= anonymity.
No. But it does depend on how you use a pseud. You can give it an identity, or you can use it to be anonymous. I have, in fact, a sock journal I use in order to be anonymous, because well. I suppose I push the things we are willing to "own", as you put it, but even the porn I post to lettered has questions within the text about, "is it alright to own it? Yes! Do it!" But I have occasionally written things that are so dirty and mindless even I couldn't own them. I can't figure out whether it's because my brother and a couple others I know irl know the name of my journal, or not.
But no, I agree that pseuds and anonymity are not equivalent; as you say, anonymity can only ever be, well, anonymity, whereas a pseud can be part of your identity. I think part of my problem is that lettered is enough of my identity now that it no longer feels removed enough; I would rather be writing with someone twice removed. Three times removed!
I currently have a lot of terrible, terrible schmoop floating around in my head. I am embarrassed to post it, because Stulti, you know, is an INTELLECTUAL. So I think of going anon for a while, just to see what would happen to the wordflow, the writer's block, the angel in the house.
This is interesting, because again, when I find myself writing things I'm embarrassed about, questioning that embarrassment will out in the text--e.g. Sex, Lies, and Veritaserum, or Girls Are Great. And those pieces, I didn't quite purposely put the questioning meta elements in there. When I wrote Girls Are Great anonymously, I was fine with it just being porn, but when I decided I wanted to post it to my journal the meta elements just happened. I had to work on them, but I knew what I wanted them to be, and even though it wasn't a perfect fic in the end I was fairly happy with it. I don't know, maybe that's not something that would happen with everyone, but I feel if you're having those issues, if you let yourself go it will out in the text.
...except with me and the porn? Because to me the dirty, dirty stuff I have to post under another name is . . . it's not just another genre, it's like another medium or something. It's as different from writing fic as writing a meta post is from writing fic, and considering my meta posts vs fic, writing straight-up porn is even more different than both of them. It's totally mindless in a way most things I write--even lots of porn I write!--can never be. I have no idea if that makes any sense at all.
I hope you do write your fluff, whether it's anonymous or not. It sounds like you're saying this, but maybe if you try being anonymous, you'll be able to get some of it out, and then find that you're fine owning up to it after all.
no subject
I just wanted to point out that pseudonymity =/= anonymity.
No. But it does depend on how you use a pseud. You can give it an identity, or you can use it to be anonymous. I have, in fact, a sock journal I use in order to be anonymous, because well. I suppose I push the things we are willing to "own", as you put it, but even the porn I post to lettered has questions within the text about, "is it alright to own it? Yes! Do it!" But I have occasionally written things that are so dirty and mindless even I couldn't own them. I can't figure out whether it's because my brother and a couple others I know irl know the name of my journal, or not.
But no, I agree that pseuds and anonymity are not equivalent; as you say, anonymity can only ever be, well, anonymity, whereas a pseud can be part of your identity. I think part of my problem is that lettered is enough of my identity now that it no longer feels removed enough; I would rather be writing with someone twice removed. Three times removed!
I currently have a lot of terrible, terrible schmoop floating around in my head. I am embarrassed to post it, because Stulti, you know, is an INTELLECTUAL. So I think of going anon for a while, just to see what would happen to the wordflow, the writer's block, the angel in the house.
This is interesting, because again, when I find myself writing things I'm embarrassed about, questioning that embarrassment will out in the text--e.g. Sex, Lies, and Veritaserum, or Girls Are Great. And those pieces, I didn't quite purposely put the questioning meta elements in there. When I wrote Girls Are Great anonymously, I was fine with it just being porn, but when I decided I wanted to post it to my journal the meta elements just happened. I had to work on them, but I knew what I wanted them to be, and even though it wasn't a perfect fic in the end I was fairly happy with it. I don't know, maybe that's not something that would happen with everyone, but I feel if you're having those issues, if you let yourself go it will out in the text.
...except with me and the porn? Because to me the dirty, dirty stuff I have to post under another name is . . . it's not just another genre, it's like another medium or something. It's as different from writing fic as writing a meta post is from writing fic, and considering my meta posts vs fic, writing straight-up porn is even more different than both of them. It's totally mindless in a way most things I write--even lots of porn I write!--can never be. I have no idea if that makes any sense at all.
I hope you do write your fluff, whether it's anonymous or not. It sounds like you're saying this, but maybe if you try being anonymous, you'll be able to get some of it out, and then find that you're fine owning up to it after all.