[toma_caliente]

I've kicked around the idea of starting a blog. It would be for me and me alone. Just a way to help myself work through some thoughts. There is always some sort of anxiety that stops me from doing it though. The idea of putting thoughts out into the world is scary. The author says my ideas can help people and I'm selfish to not share them but what if I don't want to my ideas to have a wide reach? What if I accidentally make the front page of Hacker News? God knows people here aren't any sort of kind or gracious. There is a comment in thread that sums it up, it's a single player game until you publish and are on display for everyone.

[owlninja]

if you aren't looking for interaction or a following - then why publish? Write your thoughts out for yourself and see where it takes you.

[jotm]

This is something that every individual needs to realize themselves, but you shouldn't give a flying fuck what strangers think of you. Or anyone, really. Their thoughts and opinions are their problem, not yours.

"Oh, but what if it actually affects me?". If it starts affecting you, then you fix it.

You don't care what a random person on the street/road thinks of you, right? Even though they can realistically punch/stab/yell/crash their car into you at any time.

[r_c_a_d]

Maybe try writing a private diary for, say, a year and see what you get. Depending on events you will probably either (a) drift out of the habit after a month or two (b) gain insights into yourself and carry on (c) start to publish selected extracts as a blog/book.

If you become famous then someone will do (c) for you at some point (maybe after you are gone).