In the article I quoted in Monday’s post, Elissa Altman shared this earthy bon mot from writer Dorothy Allison, which is now officially one of my all-time favorite quotes about writing:
If you’re going to write a character as an asshole, you’d better be ready to write yourself the same way.
Memoirists and others who may be tempted to include real-life assholes as villains or corpses in their writing, take note.
You might recall Allison as one of the examples of messy writers in my posts on authenticity. While Bastard Out of Carolina wasn’t strictly a memoir, it’s well-noted as a fictionalized version of Allison’s childhood. Her fictional stand-in, protagonist Ruth Anne “Bone” Boatwright, wasn’t exactly an asshole, but she was confused, complicated, rebellious, reckless, and vengeful. Allison didn’t hold back on revealing her contradictions, even if she risked losing her readers.
It doesn’t get more authentic than that.
The fact that it reminds me of one of my favorite John Waters quotes is a bonus.
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