NURTURING THE WRITING SPIRIT

by RJ Thesman

When I taught English as a Second Language, my class was filled with post docs, brilliant scholars with multiple PhDs in science and medicine.

One Chinese doctor specialized in the research of cancer modalities. He regularly harvested rats, collected data and reported his findings to the university. But his English was broken. Speaking was hard enough, but writing in this crazy English language seemed an impossible feat.

Still, he showed up for class each week and took careful notes, often frowning as we practiced placing articles before nouns such as: a sunset, the notebook, an hour. 

During one of our coffee breaks, I asked Doctor Xao (Chow – a pseudonym) about his work and what he hoped to gain from our English class.

“To publish in medical magazine,” he said with fervor. “Is my goal but also — requirement for my work.”

I nodded. “I understand. We’ll work hard to make that a possibility for you.”

As we studied together throughout the next weeks, Doctor Xao stood out as the student most eager to learn. He volunteered to write sentences on the white board, a place of great vulnerability in front of his peers.

Then one day, he hung back after class. “You asked my goals,” he said.

“Yes. That was several weeks ago. Do you have something to add?”

He looked around the room, watched as the other students headed for the door. “Stories,” he whispered. “I want to write stories.”

Surprised yet delighted, I smiled and echoed his whisper. “What kind of stories?”

He looked puzzled, so I explained. “Fiction stories are not true and can be in a number of what we call genres. Romance, fantasy, thriller, mysteries….”

“No. My stories not like that. My stories for children.”

“Ah — how wonderful! Most writers like me fell in love with words because of stories we read as a child.” I looked around the room. “But why are we whispering? Is your goal a secret?”

He sighed as if releasing his most heartfelt desire. “In my country, we work hard to learn and achieve educational status. School and work uppermost, because we must support family and aging parents. Medicine and science highly revered. Not possible to be a writer.”

Now I understood. The heart of this brilliant man lay in the creative energy of putting characters in tense situations, of touching the emotions of a child or teaching a lifetime lesson within the prose of easy language.

Yet he was expected to spend his life in the lab, to harvest rats and record scientific data. Important work, of course. But not the desire of Doctor Xao’s heart.

He bowed his head as if ashamed to admit his truth. “Sometimes I come home and write stories. Then hide them so no one sees.”

As a student of words, I never had to choose between my desire to write and the reality of social norms. But I could still encourage this man to pursue his dream. “Many writers are what we call bi-vocational. They do exactly as you have described, come home from their day job and then write stories in the evening. It’s a good way to make a living in your scientific field yet still nurture creativity.”

“Nurture? What is this word?”

“To appreciate words, to love the joy of writing, to protect your writing time, to keep doing it so that you grow as a writer.”

His black eyes sparkled. “This I can do. Write my stories and grow.”

After the semester ended, I said goodbye to my students, then penned a note to Doctor Xao. “Stories can change the world. Keep writing.” 

I have not seen Doctor Xao since he sat in my ESL class, but I always hope to discover his byline on the front cover of a children’s book. Sometimes I browse through the children’s department at Barnes and Noble, searching for a picture book with the photo of a Chinese PhD on the back cover.

Wherever he is, I hope he’s still working on his stories, being brave enough to imagine himself an artist, creating and being his authentic self.

The power of words and the energy of the writing flow transcends all cultures and travels beyond countries. We honor the gift as we nurture it and keep writing — no matter what obstacles we face.

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Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing