SHE ISN'T WHAT SHE WROTE

This is a really interesting article about/interview with Curtis Sittenfeld about Prep; what I don't get is, why is it so bad to draw from your own experience when writing? Some people seem to think it's somewhat of a sin. When a woman writes a book, and some of turns out to be a bit like her own experience, people seem to think that that discredits the book in some way; also; whenever a woman writes a book, especially something like Prep which is so good, so exactly like it is, so dead-on, and so well-written, people always seem to want to discredit the book by saying that "Oh, she's probably just writing about herself", like the author in question wouldn't be able to come up with the story line just by using her own imagination. Basically: whenever a woman writes, there is always something wrong with it, or with her, she's unimaginative or she has too much imagination etc., etc. I'm so tired of the fact that, everywhere I turn, something is wrong with me, simply because I happen to be a woman.