Value-added Authenticity

Welcome to Anonymous’ blog, written entirely by Anonymous!(TM)

You’re right, I’ve been taken over by screenwriter syndrome. Like screenwriters, being highly paid and successful in a profession where so few succeed does tend to inflate my self-worth — and is it any wonder, considering the value of my time, if people question whether an important person like me really writes her own blog?

Like screenwriting, academics is highly paid. (To be circumspect, I’ll only mention that I am paid in the tens of thousands of dollars — I know! I know! It sounds exaggerated, but let me tell you it’s harder than it looks, taking meetings with undergraduates, pitching mission statements and Department Thoughts, keeping my finger on the pulse of popular culture AND on the pulse of unpopular culture, and giving back to the community in the form of commenting on other people’s footnote formats). And sadly, like screenwriting, so few succeed in this profession. (The number of PhDs who end up in tenure-track jobs is 40-50%.) And of course, like screenwriters, academics tend to attract fawning even in the rare instances when we don’t deserve it. All of that might lead some academics to get ghost-writers for their blogs — there being so many demands on our time, so many better things we could be doing. But not this blog! It is high authenticity around here. It is New Sincerity. Like, say, Buffy writer Jane Espenson’s blog:

“Welcome to Jane's new blog, written entirely by Jane.”
http://www.janeespenson.com/

Also I would be deficient if I didn’t mention audience satisfaction. I strive to provide a blog experience that will create audience satisfaction, just as I strive to provide a classroom experience that will create audience satisfaction. (I don’t always provide a grading experience that creates audience satisfaction, but never mind that.) I think that puts me in a league with Laurie Hutzler, the creator of Emotional Toolbox (TM), which lets you Get to the Heart of the Story (TM). “She specializes in building the emotional bond that creates audience satisfaction”!

http://www.emotionaltoolbox.com/etb/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=34

So I hope you’re having an emotionally satisfying experience with this blog, because that’s the kind of experience audiences love! And if not, I’ll have to fire my ghost-writer.

Q: Does this mean it’s too late to write to the editor of Sci Fi Magazine and tell him how much I appreciated the article on “The Wild Blue Yonder”? Have I missed the boat?

A. It’s never too late to speak up on behalf of art.