Stephen J. May’s biography of writer James Michener, Michener: A Writer’s Journey (2005). I think my favorite kind of reading is the story of a writer’s life. Almost always something big strikes me from his or her life story. From this:
“Jim had spent most of his life keeping a safe distance from people. He felt comfortable within himself, locked away in intellectual seclusion. The war forced Michener out of his introversion and into the lives of his fellow sailors and airmen. Even though these men were sometimes overbearing and frequently shrill, he began to connect with people on an emotional level– perhaps for the first time in his life (58).”
For me the connection is in the first sentence, it is a sort of snobbishness I can relate to. I often wish I were more socially outgoing, that I often wish to connect with people to find out what they think about, what their lives are about, what their passions are, but usually it is my own reserve that stifles.
For anyone to develop into a good writer he or she must get beyond that. Learn to listen but also take the courage to initiate and negotiate social interactions. An artist of any kind must be sort of detached but must be able to somehow still experience the range of the human condition in terms of thoughts, motivations, living conditions, aesthetic sensibilities and the like. Michener’s story, and especially his story of success, suggests to me that I need to lessen the amount of whiny introspection in my own thoughts and put more energy into developing connections with others.
