Is a story our 'letter to the world'?

Many writers would see their work as a letter to the world. Biographies and autobiographies are the most obvious form in which a writer can get their story and life events across to the reader.  Fictional writers also have the opportunity to recreate certain events or personalities from their own life, by putting certain aspects of it into their fictional characters, subtly telling parts of their story in a less obtrusive and obvious manner.  Writing about your life in a way where the meaning behind it is not entirely obvious to the reader can be a great escape for some people.  Emily Dickinson is a great example of this. Dickinson wrote about her feelings for her sister in law (which at the time society would have been extremely against) in a number of her poems, which may not be entirely obvious to the rest of the world (were they to read them at the time), but the meaning would be more clear to herself and perhaps the intended receiver.

Not all writers start their work with the intention of including parts of their own lives into it, but I think this will happen to all writers with at least one piece of their work. It is hard for any writer to keep their personal lives and the lives of their characters separate, whether they relate to a character personally, or perhaps the personality of a character is very similar to someone they knew, it is very likely that the writers perceptions of the (real) person, and events that the writer connects with that particular person, will in some way be worked into their work.