Friday, July 30, 2010

The Difference

Someone asked me what the difference is between writing for work and writing for myself. When I stop to think about it, there are some huge differences, but putting some of the most important ones into words is a lot more challenging than I thought it would be.

But that's also part of the pleasure of writing just for me and for you, and not for work.

My first reaction was to say that the difference is that personal writing is fun, but honestly, I absolutely love the writing I do. I love writing articles and posts that give people new ideas and help them deal with situations in their classrooms. It's fun to do that. And humbling. And a huge responsibility to nurture the customer-based community of a wonderful company. It's writing with a specific purpose.

And I think that's where the difference lies.

This...this type of writing, is so free form that anything goes. A deep, introspective post one day can easily be followed by a lighthearted one the next and vice versa. There's no pressure. And really, when I write here, I know others may be reading, but it's done more as self-reflection than it is to change lives. This is me. Slightly edited, but me.

Work writing is me in disguise. And isn't that how it should be? Shouldn't there be a separation between work and home? Are you as uninhibited at work as you are at home? Probably not. And that's probably a very good thing. Work is work. And this, to me, is not work.

I also like writing contractions. It's a flaw in work writing, but here, anything goes. I can write "don't" and "can't" and "haven't" and "shouldn't" and "wouldn't" until my fingers fall off and no one cares. And that's nice.

Maybe the biggest difference though is that here I can show you my snarky humor in all its glory. Work writing isn't so conducive to that. In fact, snarky humor and work writing are two things that will never go together or I'll be sitting here with my snarky humor and not much else. That's the way it should be though.

So, enjoy this for what it's worth. Unlimited snarky humor and contractions are yours free of charge. Lucky you.

2 comments:

the happy honeybee said...

We've had so many conversations about "blog writing" vs "professional writing," hah! May I just say though, Gym Mama, your humor comes through in everything you write. xoxo

Gym Mama said...

Well, thank you! =) The funny thing is that my professional writing IS blog writing, but just a professional blog....people have a horribly difficult time understanding THAT distinction, let me just tell you! ;) It warms my heart that you're here reading! xoxo =) (P.S. - For those of you who don't know, Ms. Happy Honeybee is THE most amazing editor, writer and friend ever!)