The Awl is horrified , rightly, by this essay in something called Millennials Magazine in which 22-year-old Jessica Roy explains that nobody had better let his or her personal feelings get in the way of Jessica Roy’s blogging. A writer must write without fear or pity! Or, you know, almost without fear or pity:
There are a host of issues I will not talk about on my blog: I will not refer to anyone by their real name, unless they give me permission first. I will not write about very personal family problems, my job, or anything unnecessarily negative about my friends. My sex life will always be alluded to through literary devices, never graphically addressed.
Note, please, that nearly every promise of discretion in that list is hedged. Family matters are OK unless they are “very personal.” Friends are fair game if it’s not “unnecessarily negative.” Sex? She won’t write about it “graphically.” The exception?
“My job.”
No loopholes there. Not when it comes to the career. Some things are too precious to endanger by sharing them all over the Internet.
