“Should I be concerned about the character or should I be concerned about the writer?”
That is a question that I often ask myself when I read some stories with characters that are really, how should I say it, a problem to themselves and/or others. It dawns on me a lot, as it is kinda concerning how a person may use their personal sufferings or issues as their own art for others to see or read. Though I do take into account, that is how the person can identify their own personal issues, sometimes. It’s also a way to draw people into a piece of work, intentionally or unintentionally.
This thought of mine, came into mind once again when the speaker in class, Dale Bailey, had talked about his works. Though it was brief, he had explained, in a jokingly manner is how I saw it, how he had found that his beginning works always had a character who had a bad relationship with his dad. He quickly brushed it off saying how it lead to therapy, most likely taking into account that the class was there and he didn’t want to make his past issue seem like it was a problem, because he didn’t come to explain to the class about his past but about his works.
To sum it up, should I be concerned about the character or should I be concerned about the writer? Well, it all depends on the person, but the writer must have put effort into his work for a reason. As there are many ways people get there ideas for their writing, I wouldn’t call it inspirations, because some writings don’t come with inspirations. Writing or art can be created with positive or negative meaning and the same if the person was inspired or just really liked a word.
Brandy's Creative Writing Blog 
This is a fascinating topic that I’ve about a good bit myself. The way I generally view it is the author can give more context to the piece but not necessarily the other way around. To clarify that, say hypothetical author Mr. X writes vividly about suicide. Everyone of of his books views it as this dark, scary place that people pushed to the edge go, but there are also hints that maybe it’s an escape, a place of freedom. Now, can you say from that Mr. X is depressed and suicidal himself, longing to free? I would argue you can’t. Maybe he just finds the imagery of suicide interesting, the gun to the chest, the drunkard who has nothing to live for but has a gun. But say one day you read an article where Mr. X talked about his life long struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts. Now whenever read a book by Mr. X, it would recontextualize these portions for you. I think a similar thing applies to Professor Bailey. I don’t think many people would assume his fatherly relationship issues simply from the text, after hearing about it, though, many people would read with any scenes with father characters to see how they are shown.
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Brandy, “Writers and Writings” offers a thoughtful meditation on the question you pose in the first lines: “Should I be concerned about the character, or should I be concerned about the writer?” Once a writer is no longer the invisible creator of the words on the page but instead a particular person whose life has shaped those words, can we ever fully separate the two?
When I was a freshman at Chapel Hill, a short story writer whose work I greatly admired came to campus for a literary festival. I arrived at the auditorium early to get a seat up front—that’s how eager I was to see this National Book Award-winning author. As she spoke about her work and the many aspiring writers who sought her guidance, her smugness distracted me from whatever valuable advice she may have been giving. What I remembered afterward was her self-satisfaction. I was never able to enjoy her fiction again.
On a brighter note, I am grateful that we had the opportunity to speak face to face with author Dale Bailey on February 27, a month ago today.
I hope that you will continue to blog about your writing after the semester ends.
Take care. We will get through this.
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