Whenever I have had to write fiction, I've always had to invent a character who roughly has my background.
Africa has no future.
People come and go all the time; the world has always been in movement.
What was past was past. I suppose that was the general attitude.
The only lies for which we are truly punished are those we tell ourselves.
All the details of the life and the quirks and the friendships can be laid out for us, but the mystery of the writing will remain. No amount of documentation, however fascinating, can take us there.