Life and Fiction: In the Blender

We all see things in others that they can't see themselves.

So begins the novel that I am writing. That may not be how it begins when it is finished. But that's how it reads now.

That opening sentence relates to the story's narrator, who is fresh out of high school, unclear of the world and his place in it. He has a muted self-image of himself and, as a result, attaches himself to someone who is everything that he is not - bold, self-assured, confident. He is comfortable being the follower and lacks the ambition to be more than that. His best friend is cognizant of this but also sees that there is more in him than he can see himself.

I thought about that story arc when my good friends at the Chicago Writers Association recently put me at the helm of their newly formed 16-member Steering Committee, basically entrusting me with guiding them in the right direction.

I am one who has never been all that confident in my own inner-compass, so asking me to steer a group of nearly 200 on a path to greater success makes me more than a bit uneasy. I am also one who has always shied away from taking on any kind of leadership role. I just have never seen myself as a leader. But, apparently, there are some in the Chicago Writers group that see in me more than I see in myself.

We all see things in others that they can't see themselves.

My own words. Life and fiction - sometimes they blend in the most unexpected and mysterious ways.

Comments

[Bethany]

Why of course you are QUALIFIED to do this! And the perfect fit. Oh, congratulations. It so very fits you completely. Only wish I could be there (or here) to witness it in person.