Harvest...
...your unique experiences
Hello, Doctor! Do the trees in their vivid fall palette inspire you to write? Do you feel invigorated in nature? Do you find your best words outside?
Here’s an idea for you. Take a moment in your favorite outdoor spot. Let the ideas, wishes, and hopes come into your mind.
Write one down on a leaf and let it go.
Or… write it on a stone and cast it into a stream.
Or, if you bring a notebook and write pages and pages, bury them under a tree.
Sometimes the act of writing can be cathartic, and no one else needs to know.
But sometimes a thought will stick with you, and you’ll want to write even more. If that happens, go with that flow. Express. Influence. Inspire.
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I’m happy to help you with your writing project. Get in touch and we’ll make it happen.
In This Issue
Doctors Writing
Retreat and Complete
Give It a Ghost
Waxing Poetic
The Heaviness of Being
Substantial
Getting Acquainted
Leafing Through
Doctors Writing
Based on your feedback from previous writing conferences, it’s clear the most impactful component was the direct feedback and intimate discussion.
With that in mind, I’m launching a new, more focused virtual event: The Doctors Writing Workshop, Sunday, December 7 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Eastern. This small group forum is designed to give you candid feedback and a supportive community of peers.
Submit up to 1,500 words on any subject, any genre. I will facilitate a group discussion and provide personalized feedback on each piece. With only six spots available, you’ll receive the focused attention you need to move your writing forward.
Learn more and reserve your spot here: https://www.ironedwordsproductions.com/doctors-writing-workshop
Retreat and Complete
Need a getaway from the grind to get your writing done? Come to the Ironed Words Writing Retreat!
What’s offered: Uninterrupted writing time, group meetings with other writers, and meet-and-greets with local Pittsburgh authors. Accommodations are included with registration.
Location: The Washington, Pennsylvania location is drivable from many nearby cities. The HQ hotel is near shopping outlets and a casino for your relaxation before and after the retreat.
Dates: Saturday, November 1 to Monday, November 3.
Group is capped at FIVE. Learn more here: https://www.ironedwordsproductions.com/fall-2025-ironed-words-writing-retreat-by-iwp
Give It a Ghost
Have you found that your writing project has become monstrous and overwhelming? Are you too busy to get it done? Fear not.
Your story is important! I can help you find a ghostwriter so that your narrative and your vision get out into the world.
Get in touch and tell me a bit about what you’d like to accomplish, and I’ll hook you up with ghostwriters I know.
Waxing Poetic
In the October issue of DocWriteRx™, read the poetry of neurologist Dr. Soma Sengupta about a greeting card with special meaning. It will come to your inbox on October 9th.
Subscribe for full access.
The Heaviness of Being
New in the primer: writing about pain, suffering, and death.
This month we focus on why it’s so hard.
Subscribe for full access to Writing & Storytelling in Healthcare: the Primer.
Substantive
Get your words in an upcoming issue of DocWriteRx™!
Please write 100 to 500 words on one of these topics…
How do you engage with someone experiencing a mental health crisis?
What’s an experience from medical school or residency that shaped you?
What other profession or career do you fantasize about?
Feel free to get creative. You may write a short memoir, a ballad, an instruction guide. Stretch your imagination.
Upon publication, the author will receive a free premium subscription of Healing Ink™ for one year, an $80 value. That includes all paywalled material and future bonuses in that year.
Click on the button below to submit.
Getting Acquainted
I was a 40-year-old virgin.
It wasn’t until my late 40s that I carved my first pumpkin. Clearly, a surgical specialty was never in my sphere of consideration.
I marveled at the creative prowess of my friends, who proudly posted their imaginative and skillful designs on social media each October. But it wasn’t for me. Cutting into the firm and perfect flesh of a cheery, robust squash rubbed me the wrong way, especially when the fine specimen would then rot shortly thereafter. But my daughter was in grade school and wanted to carve pumpkins like everyone else, so I proceeded with this brutish autumnal ritual.
I draped the kitchen table with newspaper. I laid out the instruments in a neat array. I transported the orange heft from the sink, gently prepped with dish soap and a good rinse. I marked the incisions: three triangles and a crescent. But first, the craniectomy.
I sawed a large circle around the stem. I carefully plucked off the top and peered inside. Blech. Scooping handful after handful of the innards out, I was amazed at the sinewy nature of the beast. The pile of thick, straggly fibers admixed with seeds grew with each slimy splat.
Finally, we got the eyes and nose and mouth cut out. After puttting a candle inside, I felt a little thrill at the accomplishment. Even with its bare minimum components, my daughter oohed and aahed and beamed at the jack-o-lantern. We took a picture, posted it, and decorated our porch with a newfound glow.
I haven’t carved another pumpkin since.
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What was a time you tried something new — in medicine, in life, or in writing?
Leafing Through
“Golden leaves promise a world of beautiful adventures.”
See you next month for the next dose of Healing Ink™.
Check out our sister publication on Substack, Hot Off the Iron.
— Maria Simbra, MD, MA, MPH, Director and Principal of Ironed Words Productions, LLC