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Write About Me

Writing About People We Know is Fraught

We started to talk after I stripped down to my underwear to lay face down on the massage table. I detected an accent so I asked him where he was from. There is a set of standard questions for a new massage therapist related to their background and experience. I imagine they have a standard set of topics for new clients, too.

When it came up in the course of our conversation that I write, he said “write about me.” “People don’t write anymore”, he said, “and it’s important.” I’ve come across a number of people who are flattered to be included in stories I write. But it has been a mixed bag of reactions.

One man threatened to sue me after I published something about him and included too many identifying specifics. At the time, I felt he was overestimating the reach of my little blog here on Medium. He was more concerned about people in our small writing circle who might recognize him. I took the story down. I learned a valuable lesson about protecting other’s privacy. Not everyone thinks telling their truth is something that should be put out there for general consumption.

I’m much more careful now about writing about people in my life. My estranged husband once claimed a friend saw a link on Facebook to a story about our marriage and his issues with addiction. There was no such…