online vs real life

This has been sitting in my drafts for a few days (well part of it has anyway) and I thought it was about time I finished rambling and posted, because a) it's Friday and b) I have a presentation this afternoon.

A few years ago, I had a very close group of friends I met online. We're not so close anymore, but at the time they meant so much to me, and they are all wonderful, wonderful people. I don't think they know how much they meant to me.

But it meant that I had that whole online - real life divide, which kinda merged over time, to become very confused and less clear. Although, of course, this is a little different, it feels a little bit of the same. For some reason, not even known to me, I haven't told any of my real life friends about this blog. I've had blogs before, which have sort of petered out, and I didn't want that to happen to this one. So I didn't tell anyone. And I managed to keep posting, because I knew no one was reading. And then I began to connect, via NaNoWriMo with other writers from my area and I gave out my blog details - finally people who understood were reading and following me, and I could follow them in return and connect with other people. And then came this writer's platform building campaign, and I thought great, another chance to get to know some great writers. And so it is happening again, this strange online vs offline divide - made even stranger by the fact that I have another online life, with tumblr and twitter and all of that, and people I know in real life follow me on there - I'm just about used to that. I don't know if I've made myself particuarly clear, but there we go.

Maybe one day I'll let my real life friends know about this blog.

Have a good Friday everyone; I need to go prepare for this presentation now (the one mentioned before about Ballet Shoes, I Capture the Castle, and Autumn Term. It should be fun. At least I love the books).