Let’s explore a little more about the idea I shared yesterday, but this time talk about structure as well as content.
Initially, I thought of it as a short story about a single incident. Then I thought it could be a single chapter with the doctor as a connector to piece together a whole book. After all, doctors have such vast potential in the people who cross their paths, the places they go, and every inch of the spectrum between humdrum and dramatically tragic. And, since medical science is one of those places where people still admit some things are beyond our control and knowledge, there is room to slip in chaos, indecision, hesitancy, regret, and exhaustion. Now, maybe those are only the things I associate with humanity and realistic writing. I am, after all, alive.
Doctors have the additional charm of their education & station. On one hand, they are experienced; on the other, the other hand, they can face rare and rather random situations. They are educated, but often are with those educated less or differently than they.
Have I left structure to drone on about content again? Maybe. But those settings and scenarios can play into your structure. Devote a chapter to each. Bridge with someone of a different educational level—such as clergy, who historically and so far still typically have at least a master’s degree. And doesn’t their 24-hour on-call status make chapter breaks that much easier?
Content is important. Crucial. Content can be the point. But structure conveys. It builds. Without structure, content doesn’t communicate as well. Rather than stand, it falls back into private thought.
Break through into expression, which can easily be shared. How will you express? Short stories? Linking chapters? As a series of letters? A journal? Will you play around with daily development or intermittent speeds? Spacing and timing can be planned out in your structure. And, maybe theological points can be, too.
I’m on a kick thinking about the Holy Spirit, but what about a three part-er? Each focusing on a Person of the Trinity and their corresponding gifts (Small Catechism Articles, anyone?)! And underlying it all is that the Trinity is united in so many gifts to us and works for us. Thanks be to God!
