It took me a long time to arrive at "naked," all the things I wanted to forget or not know about myself. 

When I was ready, I found a power I didn't know was there, like a superpower, enhanced sensitivity, a whole hidden layer of me that not only had I not shown to others, but had been fighting all my life to hide from myself. 

Embarrassing. Awkward. Rash. Out of step. Rude. Forthright. Truthful. Unashamed. It was almost like Alice through the Looking-Glass. All the things I had feared turned out to be the greatest resource for discovering humanity, its depth, its compassion, its linkage to others. Now I see it as

Freeing. Breathing. Being present. Wholeness. Honesty. 

The naked writer peels away conventions to find out what's really going on. That's one reason "fiction" has had such an enduring impact. We call it fiction because it's not "true," but that's backwards. Some truths can be found only in "fiction."