WHY WRITERS BELIEVE IN READERS? IT TAKES BOTH

Writers believe the time they spend on their work is worthwhile.

Opinions from others vary.

Of course writers believe, but is their opinion the one that matters?

After days and years of focus on a project, they’d better believe in their work.

One sage said to choose a writing topic you love, because you’ll eventually hate it.

And what do you know, they were right. But I hated the topic I wrote about before I even started.

When the good doctor sent me out for tests on a stupid lump that was barely visible on my neck, no big deal.

The resulting cancer call from him made it a big deal. But it was also a big story.

Was the story about cancer research, cancer treatment, or a specific cancer?

None of the above.

Not that those topics wouldn’t be interesting enough, but readers want a more educated approach than a patient point of view on them. I’m educated, but not in those areas.

My specialty is more a reaction than action. In other words, my book won’t be curing cancer anytime soon. Instead, it will give pause for those involved in all stages, and more.

Writers Believe First, Then Readers

Stories with a twist reveal things in the story, but more important is what they reveal in the reader.

How many times have you been reading along and been shocked at the turn of events? Like you should have seen it coming and figured it out ahead of time.

Take Nelson DeMille’s ‘The Quest.’

From amazon:

A sweeping adventure that’s equal parts thriller and love story, Nelson DeMille’s newest novel takes the reader from the war torn jungles of Ethiopia to the magical city of Rome.

While the Ethiopian Civil War rages, a Catholic priest languishes in prison. Forty years have passed since he last saw daylight. His crime? Claiming to know the true location of Christ’s cup from the Last Supper. Then the miraculous happens – a mortar strikes the prison and he is free! 

Also from amazon:

AUTHOR’S NOTE:
An earlier, shorter version of The Quest was published in paperback in 1975. In 2013, I rewrote The Quest and doubled its length, making it, I hope, a far better story than the original, without deviating from the elements that made the story so powerful and compelling when I first wrote it. In other words, what made The Quest worth rewriting remains, and whatever is changed is for the better.
I was happy and excited to have this opportunity to rewrite and republish what I consider my first “big” novel, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I first wrote it.

Don’t Believe Everything

In the books endnotes DeMille explains what his editor, or agent, said the book needed for an extra boost.

It needed more boost than cannibal tribes, ruthless despots, and threats of sexual torture at the hands of ruthless soldiers?

The author said he was advised to include more sex, so he did. No spoilers, but one incident portrayed an older man and a younger woman in love with him. They did a few things in a short time that made me wonder who was giving the sex advice.

It reminded me of a question posed to John Grisham’s wife. When asked why her husband’s books don’t have much sex in them, she said, “Because he doesn’t know much about the topic.”

That’s a harsh burn from a wife. She must know all men consider themselves babe magnets and sexual experts.

As klds growing up and getting an idea of what laid in front of us, we had a joke that went like this:

Do you know how to satisfy a woman in bed?

No.

I’m not surprised.

That comes from the guy who got ‘rulered’ for dancing too close in junior high. He was the expert Nelson DeMille should have consulted.

Experts Consulted

My memoir is a story that includes cancer without being a cancer memoir.

How is that even possible?

I was a writer before the cancer call, along with being a caregiver for a patient the medical establishment gave up on.

My doctor had been my father in law’s doctor. He wasn’t the one who gave up on him, so I knew he’d be there for me, too.

But he’s not a cancer doctor. Those guys, the experts I met, were an ENT, a radiation oncologist, and a chemo oncologist.

I saw them infrequently compared to the nurses and techs on the job.

The radiation doc wrote the study guide to the radiation oncology bible used around the world. In terms of trust, who else would you want?

The chemo doc seemed to understand the difference between neck cancer resulting from tobacco and alcohol, and the cancer derived from the HPV virus. He was the light in the tunnel of cancer treatment when he prescribed one type of chemo instead of three types and a chemo pump like the first one.

“One chemo?” I asked.

“Yes. one chemo,” he said.

“And one chemo is enough to do the job?”

“From my research on your case, yes, one will be sufficient.”

“Why did the other guy say three chemos and a pump?”

“It’s a difference in philosophy.”

Writers Believe In Philosophy

A memoir focuses on a fixed time, not an autobiography from birth to yesterday.

In this case, the most important expert is the writer. Self awareness is key.

The story starts a couple of months after my mother in law died from a stroke described as a massive brain bleed. Her husband had been my caregiving patient. We all lived together, wife, kids, in-laws.

Nature followed its course with the deaths of my aging family members. Now it was my turn, I was aging out?

Pump the brakes, fucker. Not so fast.

Through out the ordeal of diagnosis, treatment, and recovery I was reminded of too specific details that I bring forward.

Cancer weight loss reminded me of cutting to make weight in wrestling.

Meeting familiar people, and with cancer everyone is new, and they showed a new side to themselves.

Sitting with fellow cancer patients in waiting rooms for chemo and radiation showed a unified attitude.

One man waiting for neck cancer treatment said, “I’m taking it more serious this time. I even stopped smoking.”

From one unlikely inspiration to another, my work in progress will give comfort and solace to more than those afflicted by HPV neck cancer.

Anyone who has thought, ‘Pump the brakes fucker,’ when confronted with adversity will find my book a worthwhile guide to peace of mind. Writers believe.

Comments welcome.