You're sitting in the bathtub when the doorbell rings. You don't usually take baths, but after a hard day at work you decided that you needed to relax, so you got the newspaper and a beer and ran the tub full of hot water and you had just become extremely comfortable when the bell rang. Let it go, you thought. It's probably nothing important. But the ringing continues and you're one of those people who just can't let it go. Finally, you you climb from the tub, hurriedly wrap a towel around yourself, and go to the door.

"Er...you wunna subscribe to the newspaper?"

The guy at the door is obviously uncomfortable. And you're angry. "I already get the newspaper!" you shout. "I get it every day. I get it on the weekends. In fact, some days when the delivery girl is feeling generous I even get TWO papers!"

"Oh." the man says as you slam the door in his face.

You head back toward the tub, but it just just isn't the same. So you stop along the way and grab your notebopok and pen and bring it along. And once back in the tub you begin to write.

Dear Sirs or Madam
What the hell is wrong with you people? Don't you know who's getting your paper and who isn't? I'm sick and tired of dumb-ass companies like yours who think it's just fine to ring someone's doorbell or call them up when they're having dinner....

And so it goes. But lets look at what you're doing. What's your motive? What's the driving force behind this writing you're doing? Simple. You're angry and you're "letting it out." You're expressing your anger. And that's what we're talking about when we classify some writing as self-expression. The writing is about YOU, how you feel, what you think, and what you believe, which is certainly a legitimate thing to write about, but you should be aware that most people (with the possible exception of your Mother) don't generally care about you or how you feel or what your opinion is.

Sorry, but that's the way it is. So if you want to be an effective writer, one who can actually communicate with others, you'd do better to put your ego aside. Sure...you can write that letter, but should you mail it? And if you do, when they get your letter are they going to change their practice of ringing doorbells? More than likely not.

This is not to say that self-expression doesn't have its place. The need for self-expression (even if it's not in writng) is just a part of human nature. Everyone has a need to communicate who they are. In fact, psychologists tell us that it's necessary if we're to be emotionally secure.

I am I said
to no one there
And no one heard at all not even the chair
I am I cried
I am said I
And I am lost and I don't even know why
                           [Neil Diamond]

Being expressive is part of trying to understand yourself, examining your thoughts and feelings. So WHAT you write about is not nearly as important as YOU and how you feel about it.

And though a lot of expressive writing is never read by anyone but the writer, there are some expressive documents that end up in print. This is because the subject or content of the document deals with something of interest to others. Diaries, autobiographies, personal letters, and even those little notes you write to yourself to remind you to do something are examples of expressive writing.

Furthermore, collective expressions (writing that is the result of a group effort) are also considered expressive writing. Creeds, declarations, and manifestoes are part of this branch.

How can You Recognize Self-Expression If you're being self-expressive, your writing will "sound" like the way you speak. It will contain a lot of emotional words and deal with your values, the things you think are important, and it may lay out some definition of your "self."

Writing the way You Speak
By the time you're an adult, you're not very spontaneous any more. And if you sit down to write an assignment for your teacher or a letter to a friend, regardless of how well you know them, the writing may not sound spontaneous. ou should use words and phrases you would be most likely to use "on the street." This usually means a lot of first person pronouns (I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours). Your personality should show through because you're expressing your identity. And you should not be reluctant to use informal features like slang expressions. You don't need to take a lot of time choosing words, constructing sentences, or paying attention to grammar. And you can use Slang, a word or a phrase which has a special meaning, especially in certain geographical areas or cultures.

Using Emotional Words
Expressive writing often has words or phrases which express emotions. In addition to the usual emotional terms like love and hate and their synonyms, expressive writing often contains exaggerations and things like exclamations, commands, and generalizations .

An exclamation is a sentence that expresses strong feeling, like "This class sucks!" A command is an order or a direction, as in "Step to the rear of the line." A generalization is an all inclusive statement, like "Everyone thinks that Murray did it." Everyone is an all-inclusive word; so is all, everything, everybody, none, no one, and nothing. also appear in generalizations.

Expressing Values
A value is the importance you place on something. If YOU think (or feel) it's worthwhile or desirable, it's of value TO YOU. If you say that something is good or bad, you're telling your reader what your values are. The EST-words (biggest, nicest, dumbest, ugliest) usually indicate a judgment. Of course, when you express YOUR values to a reader, that's all you're doing. You can't make someone else share your values simply by telling him or her that YOU think it's important.

Defining Your "Self"
If you start to examine your own thoughts and feelings, asking yourself why you believe this or that, a self-definition will usually emerge. It's a lot like thinking outloud, but you're writing it down, recording your thoughts and feelings. You can think about your future, what kind of job you would like to have, what kind of house you want to live in, if you want a family or not, and so on. This may eventually lead to you setting a goal for yourself, identifying what you want out of life and what you expect to get.

An Example
The interview with Fran Lebowitz contains most of the ingreients of self-expression: emotional responses, self-definition, a value system, and goals for the future. Even though she's talking TO someone else and knows it's for publication, Ms. Lebowitz is completely open and honest and has some interesting ideas, so we have an exception, a situation where someone is expressing herself, but it's done in such an interesting way (which is simply her way) that we do care...or, at the very least, we're interested.

Remember the Flies and the Honey
The trick for YOU, is to keep be aware of using self-expression. Don't be deluded into thinking that if you rant and rave about something you'll influence anyone else. The squeaky wheel may get the grease, but you can atrtract more bees with honey than you can with vinegar. (Isn't it wonderful how there's an euqal and opposite aphorism for every aphorism.) If you want to express yourself on paper, all you have to do is write down how you feel about something, without any concern for "what people might think" because you're not writing for other people, you're writing for your SELF. The more you stop to think about what you're writing, the more likely you are to get bogged down. Let your emotions run free; look at how the subject affects you personally and say what you'd like to do about it. (Or maybe you just need to express some frustration because there's nothing you CAN do about it.)

Questions? For answers, send an e-mail to Dr. Write.