I have had half an idea. I may decide to present to a wider audience some or all of the many essays, journal entries, and academic papers I have written over the decades. While some people, apparently, have binders full of women, I have binders full of miscellaneous thoughts and I feel the urge to expose them to the world.
Some of those thoughts were created through handwriting, some through typing on a mechanical typewriter, and some emerged through various stages of electronic record-keeping, and I have held on to the oldest of these documents for over fifty years.
I have already shredded a lot of writings that were personal communications between my late husband and me, and which were never intended to be read by others, but I have since wondered if that was a bad choice. Regardless, they are now gone.
So, as I thought about what to do with these other non-personal writings, it occurred to me that you might be able to help me figure out what to do. My initial idea is that I could create a new page on this blog and devote it to publishing some of this stuff. That lead to a series of questions for which I don’t have answers. That is where you come in. Please let me know your thoughts.
- Should I publish none of them, all of them, or just some of the best/worst/most provocative?
- Should I correct all the grammatical and/or spelling errors, or publish them as I wrote them?
- Should I publish them in chronological order, or in some sort of random order (e.g. one binder at a time)?
- Should I scan them and publish them as they were created, complete with errors, faded ink, and sometimes with instructors’ comments, or should I digitize them into a standard text format.
- Do readers need to know the context for the writing or the dates when the pieces were written?
- Would readers prefer items to be published regularly, occasionally, or rarely?
- Should I shred them after they are published online?
- Is this idea good, bad, or awaiting judgement?
I will appreciate your thoughts on this, even if you just tell me to get a new hobby.
Snowbird of Paradise 
I think this is a great idea and suggest that you retype or copy and paste, and use the same style font etc as your blog. I would correct grammar and spelling to make it easiest for your reader, and I suggest you post what inspires you. If you go through a binder and you see something you like, share that.
Thanks, Sally.
I agree with Sally and make it random, what you’re feeling that day,
Thanks, June.
I love the context of date, and even place when I read a piece.
I think it would be fun to scan some documents if they are readable, to see our handwriting, the difference in technology type-sets, etc.
I think instructor’s comments can be illuminating. (usually telling us more about the instructor!)
I also wonder if you have content that is now cringe-worthy to you, or if you are still in absolute alignment with your former self.
Did your writing stand the test of time, or is it contextual to the era in which you wrote it?
I would be interested in your evaluation of your content, if so inspired. A rebuttal to yourself.
Whatever, however you approach this, I think it is worth your time to somehow share them with your followers.
Thank you for these thoughts, Lorna. I have a hunch there is a fair amount of cringe-worthy writing in there that I should probably face up to! I think I will try to identify dates and places where I can, and perhaps incorporate a cringe factor as well.
I like it!