Nomenclature

When my father became ill in Florida with what turned out to be liver cancer and terminal he remarked, "It came on me an imblic." My sster and I interpreted the
word to be Yiddish for "devil." In my novel "Shrink" I used the phrsse with a fictionalized father of the protagonist, when he became similarly afflicted.
My long term friend Abe, more versed in Judaism than I, pointed out the error. There is no such word as "Imblic" in Yiddish. What my father likely meant, Abe suggested, was "imglik," which means accident or misforture. I disagree with Abe. My father was personalizing the evil that consumed him. The word he was probably trying to come up with was "dybbuk," which means demon. I am presently re-editing my novel which was published, due to my poor editing skill, with many typos. Imblic--occurs at least a dozen times in the book. I was going to substitute dybbuk each time but it doesn't sound right to me. Instead of making the change each time I will add an explanation at the end of the volume explaining the confusion. This error in my book is only one of many that derived from my use of autobiographical material in a fictional story.

Identity

Any writer interjects in hus work a part of his own personality and experience. This applies to any expressive behavior and is the basic assumption of projective tests of personality such as the Rorschach and Thematic Apperception Test. Those who write autobiographical material reveal themselves consciously and willingly. However there are risks involved.

In my recent novel "Shrink: Odyssey of a Therapist," the beginning section describes the early life, education and training of the psychologist hero, Morrie Schwartz. I reveal in the Preface that much of the material is based on my own life, although changes were made to fit the story that ensues, which is totally fictional. I chose not to reveal which is real and which is fabrication. Once I opened the door, however, I became vulnerable. My sister was upset thatI described Morrie's parents as "cold." My own parents were not cold but I had raised doubts in my sister's mind about my true feelings and incurred criticism. In the last section of the book Morrie has a series of paranormal experiences that lead to his own psychological breakdown. My sister worried that perhaps I also was having such experiences. My wife was somewhat upset that Morrie's love interest in the book, and subsequently his wife, resembled a younger psychologist friend and colleague. In truth, the fictional character was a composite of both friend and wife. In an earlier version of the story I had killed off the hero at the end. My wife was so upset I rewrote the ending, which was good thing for I left the door open to a sequel, also to be published.

Such are the risks involved in revealing. While anyone masochistic enough to attempt to write for publication risks criticism, autobiographical references bring on a particularly personal type of censure. While I will not stop writing, I hope to be sufficiently creative in the future to seek creative inspiration in non-personal material.