Holly Hershman

This project considers how the process of authoring autofictional works transforms writers’ perspectives about their experiences and enables them to take control of their narrative.

Through processing past wounds, writers reauthor themselves in an autofictional world of their creation. These worlds enable authors to develop new truths that explore deeper emotionality and alternative meanings behind their stories.

Common misconceptions regarding the power of autofiction are explored and contested, namely the criticism that it is merely a thinly veiled memoir and the notion that authors only embrace this genre if they feel their story is not ‘enough.’ Through developing my own work of autofiction, I will draw upon personal experience regarding how the process of writing has transformed me as an author and character. Interviews with other autofictional authors will enable consideration of varied reasons why they chose to write autofiction and the impact it had upon their process and story development.