Persona writing, a method of borrowing the voice and temperament of accomplished writers, offers aspiring writers imaginative distance and perspective needed to tell their stories. Through a candid and generous account of his own story, acclaimed poet Philip Schultz reveals how his early struggle to find inspiration in his negative inclinations led to the idea of persona writing, the philosophy on which he founded the Writers Studio in 1987. Schultz reflects on his early life in an immigrant neighborhood of upstate New York, his first experiments with poetry and experiences of loss, his struggles with dyslexia, and the teachers and writers-such as Joan Didion, Ernest Hemingway, John Cheever, and Elizabeth Bishop-who encouraged and influenced him. Along the way, he develops the generative method of persona writing as the foundation of his work. Perceptive, enlightening, and moving, Comforts of the Abyss explores how writers can transform vulnerability and negativity into creativity.