Well, I guess it has been a while. I said I would be back as I travel along this
new journey of mine, and it’s been quite the ride so far! Unfortunately, I still have not found a
teaching job, despite sending out at least two resumes per week from June to
the end of January. It was quite a
surprise to me to find that there are still so many MT schools out there. On one side of the coin, I think that is a
good thing, since we need qualified MTs more than ever. But on the flip side,
no one is hiring because there are not enough enrollees right now and hasn’t been
for too long.
In the meantime, I have been very busy with my writing. Back in about 1999 or thereabouts, when I was
a volunteer advisor for M-TEC (Medical Transcription Education Center), I used
to post what I called “Study Hall Tips” on the student message forums. I would post things like how to do certain
tasks in MS Word, how to pick out a proper desk for your office, study tips,
time management, and so forth. I remember
one day I emailed one of the directors and said “I should write a tip book!” I started making all kinds of notes and
topics I wanted to include in the book.
The working title was “Tips of the Trade.” I would work on it a little here and there,
then put it on the back burner because I was eventually hired by MTEC, first as
a grader and shortly thereafter as an instructor. At one point I had almost 200 students, so
there was very little time for writing.
I still made notes and jotted down ideas, but I never really worked on
the book. It more or less became a dream
for me, one I thought would remain just a dream.
The one positive about not working is that you do have time
on your hands. So I decided to put my time to good use by doing what I love to
do, and that is to write. I reorganized
my notes and slowly put together the titles of the topics I wanted to
address. I changed out chapter titles, did
a lot of rewrites, and sure enough the book started to become a reality. I definitely decided I did not like the main
title. It just sounded a little trite to
me. My husband, Joe, and I were talking
about it one day, and he asked what my focus was for this book. I said it was going to be advice, answers to
questions I had gotten over my years as a teacher, and things I learned as a
working MT. We went back and forth with
ideas, and he mentioned about how this is a guide about being “practical” with
your career. Then he said “The Practical
MT,” and I knew in that instant that was the title of this textbook.
When difficult or negative things happen in my life, I tend
to be a real worry wort about it, and even will sometimes focus on the worst
scenario rather than what I can learn or take away from the experience. I don’t think that aspect of me will ever
change, but something I have learned to do is, after I get through the worrying
and the doom and gloom of the situation, I do take time to think about how to
draw something positive out of the darkness.
Had I completed this writing project back in 1999 or 2000,
it would not have had as much information as it has now, plus the title would
have simply been all wrong. I grew
professionally in ways I never dreamed possible through my years of
teaching. I found myself being more than
just an instructor. There were times I
was a confidant, a counselor, a life coach, a time manager, a disciplinarian, and
even once in a while I taught transcription. My style of writing changed throughout the
years as well, since I did a lot of newsletters, wrote articles, and even gave
a talk or sat on a panel to discuss the MT career. All of that affected my writing style and
what I write about.
Along with the MT textbook, I am working on my first novel
(and I plan to write many more). I don’t
have a good title yet for my freshman novel, but I can tell you it is about my
mom. She had quite a life and even had a
secret that she took with her to her grave, and I found out about it quite by
accident. I will, of course,
fictionalize much of the story, especially since I don’t have all the details,
but the main “bones” of the story will be based on her life. Being a single mom in the 1950s and 60s was
not something that was applauded with words of bravery and strength as it is
today. Oh my mom embodied all of that
and more, but back then, it was something that was kept quiet. No one talked about it. You just did what you had to do to raise your
family.
I still miss my job and even hope maybe I will teach again
someday, but that major hiccup in my life drove me to this day where I can now
say I am a published author! If you love
to write and feel you have a good story to tell, then I say write it and start
right now, today. A few pieces of advice
I can share in my very early career is that you should always write what you
know. That does not mean you have to
write a story based on true life events.
If you have a good imagination for horror or mystery or fantasy, then
that is what you know and what you should write. Stephanie Myer who wrote the Twilight Saga
series began her story from a dream she had about vampires. She had to do some research, such as finding
Forks, Washington, a real town that is usually without sunshine, but she knew
she had this story in her, and look what happened!
But along those lines, don’t go into writing thinking of
riches and movie rights and figuring out who will play your characters in the
major motion picture version of your novel.
You should write simply for the love of writing. It’s not to say it can’t happen, as Ms. Myer
is obviously a good example of what is possible. I will continue writing whether I sell 20
books or 20,000. If I’m lucky enough to
land a Hallmark movie contract or Paramount Pictures (hey, I can dream with the
best of ‘em), then I’ll share with you one or two of the actors I want in my
movie. Nope, not going to say now. Besides, by the time the movie is made, the
actors I want will probably be too old to play my characters. C’est la vie!
Thanks for your patience in my getting back to my blog. Thanks for reading, and as always, enjoy your
day.
