Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Sympathy or Empathy?

Sympathy or Empathy?Sympathy: noun - harmony of disposition ortemperament, making people compatible; common feeling; sharing or being inagreement with the feelings or condition of another or others; feelings of pityand sorrow for the suffering of another; a feeling or expression of compassionor condolence.
Empathy: noun - the ability to mentally identifywith and fully comprehend a person or object of contemplation.
Sympathy is relativelycommon, especially for someone in distress of some sort. But it involves nomore than sharing feelings with the victim.
Empathy, on the otherhand, requires a deep and comprehensive understanding of the full implicationsof the emotions felt by a victim; it is, in a sense, 'becoming' that person inthe way that a fine actor will 'be' the character rather than simply portraythe person.
By all means portray acharacter sympathetically, if that suits the story. But, as a writer, you needto be empathetic and get into the skin of the character you're depicting.