Q&A with John Colman Wood discussion

I'm curious what others thing of this. It's a vexing issue for anthropologists, the business of representing human experience.

While I'm not an anthropologist, I did come very close to becoming a psychologist, and I know this has a lot to do with becoming a writer as well. I write to understand human behavior -- from things I witness firsthand to the truly bizarre things I've only read about (people who feign illnesses, for instance, which I've tackled in my fiction because I've felt the need to understand it somehow and wasn't sure how to otherwise). And as a reader, I seek connection - both to the story and to the world it creates, which usually (in the books I like, anyway) are reflections of our own.
Love this question! Can't wait to hear what other readers/writers think...

Speaking for myself, I write to get something off my chest. And because I think fiction has the power to change minds and hearts on a large scale. Why do I read? To learn how others think, how they view the world. Or to simply take my mind off my world for a brief time...