Being late-career I have plenty opportunity to opine, “(This or that thing) is especially true at this time.” . . . only to recall or be recalled to the facts, to the truth, that this or that thing was true of my own trajectory. Such a recall has been prompted by reading David Daiches’ critical introduction to the work of my favorite author, Willa Cather.
Of her early works, Daiches wrote, “It was a good sign that Cather began her career as a novelist by demonstrating an interest in the craft of her fiction rather than by slopping on to paper her more immediate biographical impulses. . . . Her experiences with a completely objective art, however imperfectly realized, made it all the more likely that she would be able to use her autobiographical impulses successfully when she came to handle them.”
His insight reminds me of my students and my approach to teaching to their development. I am not confident of my own balance of teaching craft versus cultivating autobiographical content, especially in the age of social media. But, 30 years before the advent of social media, I am reminded that as a student and young maker, I thought my own story was pretty special and naturally suitable subject matter.