You have probably heard the phrase “dance like nobody’s watching.” What about writing without ownership? There can be an unbridled freedom in letting our words run free without concern for how it might reflect upon us or people we know. Writing anonymously is free writing at its best: both a deep self-inquiry practice and a writing practice.
We become familiar with what wants to be heard, not what we think needs to be or should be said. When we take away the label of our own name, we can try on different ideas, different voices, different perspectives. We can more easily allow the words to flow unedited onto the page. This can give our writing authenticity and aliveness; it can also breathe life into befriending ourselves. It can be tremendously healing.
When we write under our own name, we may subtly throttle back unintentionally, worried that we will sound whiny, or boring, or ineloquent, or terrified. We might fear exposing that we are not in control, that we aren’t sure what we know or what we trust. Writing anonymously gives us the opportunity to be truly vulnerable. Writing anonymously gives us a chance to look inside ourselves and hear what wants to be said without being pigeon-holed for having said a certain thing or for having felt a certain way.
I know firsthand the power of writing anonymously, for I wrote an entire book under a secret pen name. At the time, I felt that writing under a pen name was the only way I would honestly tell my story. And, ultimately, I felt the telling of the true story was more important than the authorship of it. I worried about the story adversely affecting people I loved. I worried about the story being the only thing people saw about me. When I finalized the decision to write under a pen name, I discovered firsthand that writing anonymously was tremendously empowering for I could let the story tell itself without fear of reprisal. I could “take my hands off the wheel,” so to speak and just let the words speak for themselves.
A writer friend of mine, Cherie Kephart, wrote her entire book A Few Minor Adjustments, originally under a pen name, too, and then at the last moment ascribed her own name to it after all. She said she needed the idea that she could write under a pen name to get her started. She needed to write “as if” nobody knew it was her, in order to let the raw truth out. The process was healing for her and in the end she felt comfortable to put her own name on it.
I took a little longer, but now, four years later, I am in a different space, so too my loved ones. My secret identity has become less secret and that also feels empowering.
Sometimes we need permission to let go of control of the words. We need to “let ‘er rip.” Writing anonymously or under a pen name may be a way to get started.
In our Write Now Mind online writing practice group we have the opportunity to practice writing anonymously. Our work is reviewed by others, but no name is attached to the writing. We can write without fear of being judged for what we have written or for how our writing might be seen as a reflection of ourselves.
Try this:
- Invent a new name for yourself. Be playful and curious.
- Who might you be with a new name?
- What would you write about if nobody knew it was you?
- How would you act?
- Get creative, make it real.
- Imagine, for instance, that you are going to a party as your pen name. What will you wear? Then try writing to the below prompt from your pen name’s perspective.
Prompt:
Tell me a secret…
