Nursing memoirs. I dream of two full rows in the bookstores of memoirs written by nurses. I see many more written by doctors. Why not nurses? Why not us? Yes, there are a few anthologies, but this is not like the life story of a nurse. And most of the nursing memoirs out there are …
Category: writing
Dynamite Help with Writing Memoir
Writing Tip: Read a "how to" book. The best book on writing memoir--I've read many--is Tristine Rainer's Your Life as Story: Discovering the 'New Autobiography' and Writing Memoir as Literature. I didn't discover this book until my second year of writing. Maybe that was okay because I had to do a lot of writing to …
When is a Bird Not a Bird?
Writing tip: Get motivated. Ready? Read Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. This was the second book I read on my way to becoming a writer, and I loved it. It has to do with getting your words on the page. And Lamott writes her “instructions” with humor. You can't …
Time for Paper and Pen to Rest, Birds Too
Did you find the birds on the photo? I'm looking at them now to remind myself to take my own advice, quit fine tuning this blog, let my own sun set, and go to bed. But, I decided earlier tonight to reorganize, and I can't quit until I'm finished. You know the feeling, I'm sure. …
“Free Write” into the Good Stuff
Writing Tip: For starters, read! If you’re new to writing, read inspirational books on writing to give yourself a jump start. I began with Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones. I learned to do a “free write.” Without looking, aim the point of your pen on a newspaper. Take the word it falls on and, …
All in a Day’s Work
Today, I'm having fun trying to figure out how to get things on the new "Pages" list you see on the right. I've had many "views" of them already, so maybe you're as puzzled as I am that nothing is there except a place to comment. I'll figure this out. Eventually! Back to getting my …
Go Back to School – Again and Again
Writing Tip: Take writing classes. Classes can be taken in person or online. So no excuses--just need to carve out the time. I've learned a ton about writing that charting in a patient's chart or writing nursing curriculum never taught me. I've benefited by having teachers and many peers give me feedback on what works …
Find a Like-minded Friend!
Writing Tip: Write with a friend. I started writing Caring Lessons only because my long-time friend Marianna and I cooked up the idea together of writing our nursing stories. Marianna and I live in different cities. We met in person in August of 2000 to make our writing plans. In fact, with respect to Marianna, …
Writing as Mountain Climbing…in the Snow
Some days trying to be a writer is like climbing a mountain-after a heavy snow. Two years ago, I happened to be at Mount Rainier on the first day that hikers were allowed after record snowfalls. Their lone plodding journeys up long steep hills came to mind yesterday as I ran into some uphill snags …
Subscribe to More Journals?
Writing tip: Subscribe to writing journals. I promised in an early post that I'd describe my "writing process," how I "crawled step by step from teaching nursing to writing memoir." Here goes. As a nurse, I'd subscribed to several nursing journals for nearly 40 years. So, when I decided to begin writing Caring Lessons in …
Write Along with Me 