(Paul Worthington, Creative Commons)

At the beginning of the year, I decided that this year I would take risks with my writing and have fun at the same time.  I thought that it would be fun to write a relationship advice column for Neon Tommy.  I always enjoyed chatting with my friends about our relationships (which seem to have gotten more and more complicated as we have gotten older), the mishaps, and the lessons that we have learned from them.  Last year, prior to starting graduate school at USC, a friend of mine from college and I had the idea to start writing a book based on our relationship experiences--featuring relationship dos and don'ts.  A year later, the opportunity to write this column presented itself, which gave me the time to flesh out some of our ideas.

The reason to write under a pseudonym is actually quite simple.  Writing about relationships, especially my own seemed like it had the possibility to create additional drama in my life and so I felt like it would be alright if I used an alter ego of sorts to cushion the amount of backlash via comments that seem so common in today's online journalism.  I felt that graduate school was stress-inducing enough on its own.  Additionally, the fact that I chose not to reveal my identity initially also created a bit of buzz seen through the comments that I received on my columns.  

Writing the column became an experiment.  I started to take too personally what people wrote about my columns.  I found it amusing and hurtful that other journalism students used the comments section to badger me, which does not, in my opinion, breed respect in the larger journalism community.  I also realized that some inside jokes do not translate.  Eventually, I stopped reading the comments on my columns.

There is also meaning behind the name Paige S. Morrow.  Paige was always a name for which I had a fondness.  I also like the play on words of Paige and page, due to the fact that a little relationship advice might help someone turn over a new page.  The "s" stands for Spartan, which was a little bit of school spirit thrown in for fun.  Morrow is for "I'll tell you tomorrow."  Additionally, I liked the fact that the first two initials of my adopted pseudonym are PS.  Originally, I had wanted to call the column PS XOXO, like a love letter send off, so putting the "s" in as a middle initial was a way to pay homage to that idea.  All in all writing this column was something that I didn't have to worry about in conjunction with a grade and it became a medium of artful expression for me, too.  

I appreciate the people who read my columns--thank you so much for your support.  I also think it would be amazing if those people who supported this column also read the book that I hope these columns eventually become.  I really like it when things go full circle.  Writing this column was a wonderful experience and I wish I had been able to write with greater regularity--I learned more lessons that I will probably write about at a later point in time.  One last piece of advice--on giving advice:  it should be simple and heartfelt and I hope you thought mine was.

PS