how honest is too honest?

One of the things I find most difficult - and rewarding- about writing is the opportunity to tell it like you see it. Sometimes it's easy. I'm on a rant about something or I'm happy or sad or whatever. And it just sort of flows out of me and onto the page. But sometimes, especially when a topic hits a bit too close to home or gets a bit too deeply personal, it's a little harder. Will I offend someone? Will I hurt someone's feelings if I tell the truth? Will I expose a piece of me that I'm, well, not quite ready to expose? (that's the figurative exposure, by the way, in case you were about to run from this blog averting your eyes)

It's a tough question for a writer, I think. When have you crossed a line? Or are there no lines, really? When have you said too much? Is that possible? When might your message get lost in the shock value? How do you know when people aren't quite ready for the truth - or at least the truth as you see it? And when all these questions collide with stories that are about how teens live now - the good, the bad and the ugly of it - especially how teens live here where I do, in an overly affluent corner of the world that too often feels like a theme park with matching trash cans - it's a pretty big can of worms, let me tell you.

No answers today, I'm afraid. But a lot of questions.

Til next time.