I think I've had this impression that I need to be as my characters in order to write them well, but it just occurred to me that there's a very real chance that I could, rather than being many-faceted (and thus a little crazy in the conflict) merely be an "actor," playing the parts, and writing them.

This seems big. Life changing. I'm tempted to say "maybe," but I'll instead say yes, this is life changing. This changes everything.

I'm an actor, and when I'm writing, I'm merely playing the various parts, while the real me, the director, is perfectly sane and sees the big picture clearly.