Are You Moving Your Readers with Ruthless Sympathy for Your Subject?

Your Mid-week inspiration, courtesy of Vivian Gornick and Lilly Dancyger

image by Aimee Liu

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Hi Everyone,

Welcome to MFA Lore’s mid-week inspiration for paid subscribers! Sorry for the Labor Day delay. I’ve been working overtime on my side project at

Authors4Harris

, where I urge you to join me in sharing literary #votequotes and #ReasonstoVote for democracy. It’s a labor of love that will distract me until the election, but then I hope we’ll all be able to breathe easier and get back to creative work full time!

Meanwhile, this week’s essential inspiration comes from critic and memoirist Vivian Gornick, with vital insights for writers of fiction and memoir alike.

This week’s illustration is a passage from the dazzling young writer

Lilly Dancyger

, whose Substack is The Word Cave and well worth your subscription! Lilly also offers classes and editorial services.

And the image above is a reflection of Gornick’s theme: true sympathy requires both sharp edges and complex, fluid movement.

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Vivian Gornick on sympathy and empathy

Memoirist, essayist, and journalist Vivian Gornick, author of more than a dozen books, published The Situation and The Story in 2001, and it’s been a staple of creative writing programs ever since.

I find this passage absolutely essential for anyone telling a story. But I caution you to read the word “sympathy” in its broad sense of care and concern, not as pity or treacly love.