Recently I asked my daughter if she would read an article about me on a blog, and share it on my Facebook page.
"Why?"
"Because," I said, (like an 8-year-old).
"It's very good," she said, as she looked up from her phone and wondered why I was so concerned."
"It's not that I didn't think she'd do a good job, it's that sometimes I'm uncomfortable in the spotlight."
"Don't you like the attention?"
"No," I said. "It's too much me."
"That's weird," she said.
"I know."
"Didn't you do public relations for a living?"
"For someone else," I said, "and I was good at it, but when it comes to me, I'm not good at promoting myself."
Is that shyness, or introversion, or something else? Some people bask in the limelight, but I don't feel comfortable if someone else has put me there. If I can control it, then it's not as bad, and at times I even take the lead and promote my work. Take this blog, for instance, if I want to write about myself I can, but when I put the control in someone else's hands I feel like one of those prisoners walking out of solitary confinement after a couple of weeks -- the light burns my eyes.
As a writer, I go back and forth between extroversion and introversion, although not in a straight line. To be completely honest, I wrote this post a couple of months ago, and was not sure about posting it because it reveals personal information. And I do believe that we all have some of both characteristics in us. Some days I feel confident and want people to hear what I have to say. Other days I want to stay in bed and read a book.
What about you? Are you fearless when it comes to promoting yourself? Or do you shy away from disclosing personal information, or promoting yourself and your books. There's no right or wrong, but I wonder why some of us are so comfortable, and others not so much.
Mary Horner is a freelance writer and editor, and the author of Strengthen Your Nonfiction Writing. She teaches communications at St. Louis and St. Charles Community Colleges.
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"Why?"
"Because," I said, (like an 8-year-old).
"It's very good," she said, as she looked up from her phone and wondered why I was so concerned."
"It's not that I didn't think she'd do a good job, it's that sometimes I'm uncomfortable in the spotlight."
"Don't you like the attention?"
"No," I said. "It's too much me."
"That's weird," she said.
"I know."
"Didn't you do public relations for a living?"
"For someone else," I said, "and I was good at it, but when it comes to me, I'm not good at promoting myself."
Is that shyness, or introversion, or something else? Some people bask in the limelight, but I don't feel comfortable if someone else has put me there. If I can control it, then it's not as bad, and at times I even take the lead and promote my work. Take this blog, for instance, if I want to write about myself I can, but when I put the control in someone else's hands I feel like one of those prisoners walking out of solitary confinement after a couple of weeks -- the light burns my eyes.
As a writer, I go back and forth between extroversion and introversion, although not in a straight line. To be completely honest, I wrote this post a couple of months ago, and was not sure about posting it because it reveals personal information. And I do believe that we all have some of both characteristics in us. Some days I feel confident and want people to hear what I have to say. Other days I want to stay in bed and read a book.
What about you? Are you fearless when it comes to promoting yourself? Or do you shy away from disclosing personal information, or promoting yourself and your books. There's no right or wrong, but I wonder why some of us are so comfortable, and others not so much.
Mary Horner is a freelance writer and editor, and the author of Strengthen Your Nonfiction Writing. She teaches communications at St. Louis and St. Charles Community Colleges.
