You could use a pseudonym. ;) Pseudonyms are not to be relied upon too heavily as a means of safeguarding your identity, particularly if you want to use them n

You could use a pseudonym. ;) Pseudonyms are not to be relied upon too heavily as a means of safeguarding your identity, particularly if you want to use them now and then in real life (which is why I don't bother to keep my pen name a secret) but they still have their uses. Overtly playing a character is an age-old trick for getting over one's stage fright. And it's helpful if you find that more than one of your public personae would like to use the internet now and then. (Yes, people have more than one public persona. Even those of us who aren't teachers or psychologists.) Obviously, though, HN and Twitter are mass media and if you actually want your writing to remain a secret you have to avoid putting it up on here. There's nothing wrong with that. Private diaries are still legal and everything.