The Wilensky News

Several times over the past few months, while sitting down to write a blog entry, I have remembered The Wilensky News. The Wilensky News was also a self-published enterprise, although it was issued far less frequently and served a totally different purpose for a partly similar audience: my family.

I can't remember why or when I started The Wilensky News, but I think I was probably nine or ten, maybe even a little bit younger. Even then, I knew--had known for a while--that I wanted to be a writer, that I would be a writer, and a newspaper seemed like a natural training ground. As a born busybody in a family with some excellent specimens of the genre, the reporting went pretty smoothly. I solicited "tips" from a few key sources; I suspect most of my relatives on my mom's side of the family would be able to imagine my most reliable ones. I did all of the interviews, writing, editing, layout and printing myself, although my dad pitched in for the xeroxing.

It's funny; when I think about the work I did to put out an issue of The Wilensky News now, I can still recall the feeling of excitement and accomplishment that accompanied the flood of activity leading up to press time, as well as the anticipation I experienced waiting for the reactions from the readers, some of whom--in the gossip column, say--were predictably displeased.

I am trying to remember some of the stories: there was an interview with my dad about his love for the Boston Celtics, there was a tawdry write-up about one of my cousin's hidden love letters, there was a (very biased) report on a cousin's tendency to consume portions of his edible holiday gifts before presenting them to the recipient. As this is one of my favorite stories about one of my favorite people, who can take gentle teasing, I will be more specific: We are talking about packages of Mentos, purchased in discount three-packs, opened, a few removed and (presumably) consumed from one end, and then wrapped. Merry Christmas! An almost complete pack of Mentos!

Anyway. I think the reason writing the blog conjures up periodic Wilensky News flashbacks is because of the fact of "the audience," an entity it is impossible to ignore if you are a writer, an entity you woo--comfortably and openly or less so--if you are a writer. I have always craved being read, not so much a reaction from readers, as the knowledge that they are engaged with what I write. The Wilensky News, and Seven Hundred and Fifty Words are part of the overall picture, path, for me, and both have been useful to me in terms of thinking about how and why I cultivate a readership, even the smallest, most intimate one.

I must say, writing this has given me a perhaps uncontrollable urge to issue an anniversary edition of The Wilensky News; if I do so, I promise--even (and there is little doubt) it renders me ridiculous--I will give you a link. And then you may mock me (for nostalgia or immaturity), or criticize me (for wasting time on a non-productive endeavor), or even flatter me (for making you laugh or consider), and I will take it all head-on, secure in the knowledge that you have actually read, that my words do not appear in a vacuum.

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