As a fiction writer whose work is not autobiographical, I sometimes get annoyed when people assume it is. I’ve struggled to explain that when authors insert bits of themselves and those they know in their characters, it’s called empathy, not autobiography. So thank you, Colson Whitehead, for this cogent description: “A piece of art really works when you see yourself in the main characters and you see a glimpse of yourself in the villains” (“Author Colson Whitehead Reminds Us to See Ourselves” by Mitchell S. Jackson, Time, July 8, 2019). Read more of my thoughts about writing in REFLECTIONS.
