Fear of Writing

I think that Derrida's fear of writing is a combination of two things. First, that people will not like what he is saying in his writing, and second, that people will misinterpret what he is trying to say. I think this is a legitimate fear that everyone should have when they write. It is important to understand how other people might interpret and react to your writing. Last semester I was given an assignment where I was required to write a satire of anything. I chose to talk sarcastically about the "War on Drugs" in America, specifically focusing on how many of the laws are specifically directed towards minority groups and people with low socioeconomic status. I was VERY afraid that my teacher would not understand that I was being sarcastic. I was worried he would think I was being racist or insensitive even though the entire purpose of my paper was to criticize our existing policies. I showed the paper to a friend who warned me not to hand it in. I took my chances anyway and he seemed to understand that the entire paper was very sarcastic. I don't know why I was so worried about what he would think about my paper. Besides the fear that I would get a bad grade, I think I was concerned that if he misinterpreted what I was saying, that I could really have offended or hurt him or others. Derrida does entrust the written word with a kind of power. All of us do. We read textbooks and accept them as fact, we judge authors by the themes we recognize in their stories and we make inferences from writing that have no way of being proven. I think everyone needs to recognize the power of their own writing. Choose your words carefully.