2024—The Year My Memoir Will Be Born

“It’s time!”, I resolved to myself out loud. “2024 is the year for my medical memoir! I AM going to do it.”

“But there are sooooo many stories”, the Doubter in my head bellowed to distract me. How are you going to even get started?”

“I’ll just start by choosing one from my file of ‘Medical Experiences’ or from ‘Med memories to Write About’.”

“Right”, the Doubter scoffed, “Like that’s going to help! I’m not sure there’s anything printable anywhere filed in those entire folders!”

“I’ll look”, the Determined Me retorted. “I have had lots of articles or experiences that others would probably also find interesting. At least it’s a place to start.”

I clicked on my Med Experiences folder. When it popped open, Impaled by a 2X4 Board started screaming, “Me! Pick me! I want to be first”

“No!” shouted Atypical Obstetric Deliveries, “Take me! I’m much more interesting! Remember the healthy baby with the cord around the neck three times?”

Suddenly several of the other articles began yelling into the cacophony of voices demanding to be heard. I rushed to click open the Dumb Stuff People Do file and instantly closed the folder just to shut them all up.

“Now what?” Doubter scoffed. “You’ve never even written a memoir.”

“Not yet”, Determined Me said. “But there are lots of places and help online. I will start by refining one experience at a time and submitting it to Vocal. I am sure I will get good feedback! Then I can just combine them together till it’s ready to publish. If I work on something every day and complete one story a week, well, that’s about fifty a year! That’s doable. I’ll do it!”

I remembered an article I’d read by a guy on a genealogy website who wrote a thoughtful intro, 3 Steps To Writing A Good Memoir. Another from a 2017 article describes how to write with words that make the reader “feel”. And I love reading marvelously descriptive writing like the veterinarian All Creatures… memoir series by James Herriot from the middle of the last century—vet medicine has little to do with people medicine, but great writing that involves reader emotions is universal—I can learn a lot from him.

“In fact”, I resolved under my breath to the Doubter, “I’m going to read someone else’s well-written prose every day! And I know that Vocal showcases an abundance of different styles and content that I can learn from. Maybe I will even get good enough to make helpful comments on the submissions of others.”

Doubter: “What makes you think you think you even have anything to share that anybody else would even care about? That’s presumptuous of you!”

“Yeah, but”, I countered, “I’ve had experiences no one else on the planet has had—medical or otherwise.”

“So? Anyone can tell a story. That doesn’t mean it will interest others.”

Me: “With the help of the multitude of examples on Vocal, I can couch my stories to help the readers actually feel like they were there with me. Then they’ll want more.”

“Like what?”

“Like the time when I was driving and just a few yards ahead I watched a twelve-year-old kid trying to spurt across the street on his bike get struck by a car and thrown unconscious in a heap by the curb.

“So? Lots of folks have seen accidents.”

“So, while all the other braking drivers cranked their necks and drove around him, I screeched to a stop in front of his motionless crumpled body so other drivers would have to drive around my Suburban rather than hitting him—again. I instantly lurched out and saw that he was still breathing with blood coming from his mouth and nose and his scalp and face injuries. I quickly knelt beside him on the cement curb and firmly steadied his head and neck to hopefully prevent paralysis from a broken neck. Another thoughtful driver called ‘911’. By the time EMS arrived my shoulders, arms, and back muscles were cramping because I didn’t dare move until paramedics had stabilized his poor neck with a cervical collar. My hands and arms were covered with a thick coating of the boy’s sticky dark red blood which was beginning to dry on my skin.

“There!”, Determined Me reflected. “Don’t you think folks would like to read about that? Most people have seen accidents. I want to put them in my shoes—and feel somebody else’s blood on their wrists!”

I remember that Hemingway probably said it best: “A writer’s problem does not change. It’s always how to write truly and having found what is true, to project it in such a way that it becomes a part of the experience of the person who reads it.”

Doubter was silenced for the moment. But in case he skulks back, Determined Me now had a plan and I know where to go to get encouragement and support—and exposure—Vocal!

2024 is the year for the birth of MY memoir!