I don't understand empathy. I want to be a published writer,

Write hard SF, it's autists writing for autists, you'll fit right in

You're defective, kill yourself?

>>8694978
Then write a first person narrative from the perspective of an unempathetic character. Have a disinterested god as the narrator. Surely you've at least observed the effects of emotion from the outside and can understand its effects empirically? I mean I'm in the same boat as you but I got around it by figuring out how people work, and it is both fascinating and would make for an excellent narrative perspective.

>>8694992
>Surely you've at least observed the effects of emotion from the outside and can understand its effects empirically?
Of course. I have gotten a feel for how people react externally to certain things, and I have a keen grasp on social cues. The problem is that writing the person from their own perspective is difficult because you have to know how they react to things inside as well as out.

I could easily write from the perspective of an unempathetic character, but I'm not sure how willing people are to have one as a protagonist.

>>8694978
genuinely kill yourself. It is an actual solution to your problem.

>>8695000
Start to write already. If it feels right to you, chances are you're onto something. You won't know until you start writing.
Read Celine if you haven't yet...his character feels unempathetic at first, but he does have a form of empathy; it's just buried under mountains of cynicism.

>>8695013
I'll take your advice. Maybe I'll have an empath look over the things I write to make sure it clicks. (But obviously, I won't put it in those terms when I ask the person to do it.)

>>8695025
>(But obviously, I won't put it in those terms when I ask the person to do it.)
boy, isn't your grasp on social clues keen!

>>8694978
>I don't understand empathy
any psychiatrist would call you a sociopath

>>8695759
Or autistic, really

>>8694978
You should give up, Ayn Rand.

>>8694978
>>8695025
>empath
Stop this. Exclusive terms are reserved for outliers, not typical circumstances. You're a sociopath. "Empaths" are just normal people. You're the outlier; the "alien".

You won't write anything worthwhile on that lofty pedestal of yours. The air is too thin. Drop the pretense.