Megan Sharma's Blog: The Savvy Surgeon's Wife

On The Write Life: Get Inspired! 20 Writers to Follow on Twitter

6/26/2017

Another day, another byline. [Huge grin]

My latest article on The Write Life, a respected web site for writers, is all about Twitter.

I dove headlong into the Twittersphere to discover 20 writers that you must follow right this instant.

The individuals who made the cut consistently post interesting, useful and actionable content for writers across genres.

Read the article here, and feel free to leave a comment or tell a friend!

You can find all of my articles on The Write Life here.

You may also like these blogs by Megan Sharma:
Article on The Write Life: Think Like a Journalist to Improve Your Writing (Trench Coat Optional!)
Writing tips: What I want to blog about vs. what I actually blog about
One year after my major career change from full-time mom to full-time writer: reflections and lessons learned
Married to medicine: Letter to a young doctor’s girlfriend
Wedding Season: What NOT to say about the bride and groom in your best man or maid of honor speech
For writers: All your writing fears, squashed!
A real, imperfect day in the life of a writer: me
Your writing conference checklist: how to make it worth every minute and every penny (takeaways from the 2017 San Francisco Writers Conference)
The write stuff: An author’s favorite books and authors
Writing tips: Cutting down on word fat and other newsletter best practices
All about writing: writing 'til it hurts
Writing tips for email: In 30 seconds, this message will self-destruct
Public speaking tips: How to move your audience from callous to captivated

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Article on The Write Life: Think Like a Journalist to Improve Your Writing (Trench Coat Optional!)

6/19/2017

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I am thrilled to have earned my first byline on The Write Life, a popular website that helps writers create, connect and earn.

In this article, I draw on my experience in journalism school and offer actionable tips for thinking like a journalist to improve your writing.

Check it out!

You can find all of my articles on The Write Life here (more coming very soon!).

Cheers, and happy writing!

You may also like these blogs by Megan Sharma:
Writing tips: What I want to blog about vs. what I actually blog about
One year after my major career change from full-time mom to full-time writer: reflections and lessons learned
Married to medicine: Letter to a young doctor’s girlfriend
Wedding Season: What NOT to say about the bride and groom in your best man or maid of honor speech
For writers: All your writing fears, squashed!
A real, imperfect day in the life of a writer: me
Your writing conference checklist: how to make it worth every minute and every penny (takeaways from the 2017 San Francisco Writers Conference)
The write stuff: An author’s favorite books and authors
Writing tips: Cutting down on word fat and other newsletter best practices
All about writing: writing 'til it hurts
Writing tips for email: In 30 seconds, this message will self-destruct
Public speaking tips: How to move your audience from callous to captivated

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Writing tips: What I want to blog about vs. what I actually blog about

6/15/2017

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Blogging is kind of like being on a diet.

When you’re slaving away as a corporate drone, with little to no time available for creative writing or blogging, you crave it like a double cheeseburger with bacon and a side of perfectly seasoned waffle fries.

“Ohhh, why don’t I have time for blogging? If only I had time for blogging, my life would be complete,” you lament to no one in particular.

Then, as if by magic, a segment of your slammed calendar opens and, POOF! You get the chance to write that blog.

Back when this was my real life story, I was giddy with every opportunity to write a blog.

Why shouldn’t I be? It only happened once every one to three months when I was working full-time as a corporate communications manager.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Amiright?

I’m going to get real with you: it’s not like that for me now, at least not every week.

Now that I have complete freedom over my writing projects and schedule (halleluiah!), I sometimes would rather think up imaginative strategies for marketing my book, work on growing my social media network, or pitch and write articles that earn me a byline (the holy grail for writers and journalists).

I don’t always want to write my blog. I don’t always know WHAT to write for my blog. But I always write it, not just because I ‘have to’, but also because it’s important to my long-term career as a writer.

Over the past 7 or 8 months, I have buckled down and gotten serious about blogging. Every. Single. Week.

I have also studied the breadcrumbs that successful bloggers leave behind for anyone who may be curious.

In short, my blogging strategy has completely changed, in that now I actually HAVE a blogging strategy, whereas before I pretty much just wrote whatever I felt like writing.

Now, like a person committed to healthy eating and living, I exercise a certain amount of willpower in my blog.

I no longer allow myself to write whatever my heart desires that day.

I have a new mission: to provide both entertainment and value to my readers. Once I realized that I write for my readers, not for myself, my entire blogging worldview shifted.

Here’s what I often WANT to post about (but don’t, at least, not anymore):

Pictures of my adorable toddler. Just a lot of pictures and cute captions.
A glorified social media update on what’s been going on in my personal life
Things that I find super interesting (but you may not)
Monologues full of complaints
Social commentary that amuses me but won’t help you do anything

Here’s what I am committed to writing about:

Parenting
Love
Marriage
Family fun
Travel (especially for families with young children)
Life being married to medicine
Tips and tricks for writers

So, if you want to read more on the topics above, keep following my blog, and share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter!

I’ll give you a cookie if you do.

Photo credit: Brett Jordan via Visualhunt.com / CC BY

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Married to medicine: Letter to a young doctor’s girlfriend

6/1/2017

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I was recently inspired by Dr. Suzanne Koven’s Letter to a Young Female Physician, published in “The New England Journal of Medicine”.

In her letter to herself as a young doctor, Dr. Koven describes the challenges she will face and the battle waging within her own mind: “I have wasted much time and energy in my career looking for reassurance that I was not a fraud”.

She ends on a positive note: “My dear young colleague, you are not a fraud. You are a flawed and unique human being, with excellent training and an admirable sense of purpose.”

Like any good Millennial, I immediately related her story to myself.

(Not me. Just a stock image of a Millennial girl in a fancy hat)

I thought about what I would have told my future self about what it’s like dating, being engaged to, and being married to a doctor.

If I had powers to predict the future, would I have made different decisions? Would I have changed the course of my life?

The answer is, most emphatically, NO. I would not.

Because when you find the love of your life, you don’t let him go.

Arun and me at Discovery Park in Seattle, one of our favorite places

Arun and me at Discovery Park circa May 2009, 5 months into our relationship

Here is my personal Letter to a Young Doctor’s Girlfriend:

Dear Young Doctor’s Girlfriend:

So, you’ve met someone? And that someone is a doctor? Kudos. Mazel. Cheers!

As your future self, I say this with the utmost respect and admiration: you have nary an idea what you’re getting yourself into.

I mean, you’re only 25, first of all (which is basically the new 19).

But you’re falling quickly. This one is different. You can feel it in your bones.

You’ll fall in love and spend your time conjoined like Siamese twins. Two peas in a pod. Eventually you will get engaged and married and have babies and buy a house together. All in good time, my dear.

For now, you’re content to snuggle on the couch watching Netflix and ordering calorie-laden Thai takeout from Golden Singha down the street.

The early days and even years won’t be without struggle, however.

Need I remind you that you are dating an ENT surgical resident, who has just started the first of his six-year residency training? It’s a long road. And even longer when you add that one-year fellowship to the end of it.

During your boyfriend’s first year of residency, he will have no control over his vacation schedule. His superiors will determine when he takes time off.

You’ll still manage to squeeze in an awesome trip to Puerto Vallarta to celebrate the end of intern year, your first of many international trips together.

Most nights, you’ll be lucky to see your man before 8:00 pm. When he does finally trudge through the door, he’ll be buried in work and will (10 to 1) fall asleep on the couch in his scrubs. Happy hour is out of the question.

You’ll grow accustomed to attending social events solo. Most of the time, your boyfriend will be on call or at the hospital whenever you make plans with your friends or family. Same goes for holidays—flip a coin.

He will wake you up every morning at 4:00 when he rises to prepare for the day. I know you’re not a morning person, never mind a middle of the night person. Get used to it!

His pager will become your most despised enemy. That thing literally never shuts up. It interrupts meals, sleep, shopping trips, conversations, romantic time, and even fights. Of course, it will cause fights, as well.

Financially, let’s just say that you will carry the burden for a few years. Seattle is an expensive city, and resident salaries don’t exactly match up to the cost of living.

You are one of the lucky couples who won’t have to grapple for years with medical school debt (THANK YOU GOD FOR THAT FULL SCHOLARSHIP!), so be grateful.

Believe it or not, once you get engaged (on your two-year anniversary while snowshoeing in Methow Valley, WA), you will plan your entire wedding around your fiancé’s rotation schedule. You will do most of the planning during his research year.

PS: an 18-month engagement is way too long. A year would have been just fine.

Once you finally get through six years of residency training, you’ll be jubilant, but you’re nowhere near off the hook.

You’ve lived on the West Coast for your entire life. All your beloved friends and family are in Seattle. Say goodbye to all that.

You’ve got a move on the horizon. A big one.

You’ll be trekking cross-country to Pittsburgh. In five short days. On your own dime. And then your husband will start his fellowship training while your newly rented apartment remains stacked to the ceiling with boxes, and you’ve got to get back to work, as well.

Wait! I almost forgot. Before that, you’ll sell your condo in Seattle two months before the end of residency. You’ll both move in with your parents while you wait it out.

And…oh, yes. You’ll also be PREGNANT.

You were going to drive cross-country to Pittsburgh, but your 24/7 nausea forced you to fly and make arrangements to ship your car.

One year later, after you have your first baby together, you husband will come to the end of his surgical training—a mere 16 years of education post high school.

You’ll pack those boxes once again. This time, to the Midwest, for your husband’s dream job. You’ll buy a beautiful home together, where your family can continue to grow.

True, life does get easier with your husband being an attending physician. But it also means he has ultimate responsibility for his patients, both ethically and legally.

You will buy expensive disability insurance, malpractice insurance, and life insurance to provide a snippet of comfort for the great, unknowable future.

Your husband will still round every weekend. He’ll still work late into every evening. He’ll attend more conferences, give more talks.

The life of a doctor’s wife is one of understanding and sacrifice.

You and your husband are truly a team, even though things are not always equal. Don’t keep score.

Whether you like it or not, you are both married to medicine. You’ll never escape that.

Just remember that you chose one another. Invest in your love and keep it strong.

It’s because of love that you’ve made it this far.

Warmest regards,

Megan
Your Future Self

Check out my debut book on love and modern medicine

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On The Write Life: Get Inspired! 20 Writers to Follow on Twitter

Article on The Write Life: Think Like a Journalist to Improve Your Writing (Trench Coat Optional!)

Writing tips: What I want to blog about vs. what I actually blog about

Married to medicine: Letter to a young doctor’s girlfriend

The Savvy Surgeon's Wife Blog

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On The Write Life: Get Inspired! 20 Writers to Follow on Twitter

Article on The Write Life: Think Like a Journalist to Improve Your Writing (Trench Coat Optional!)

Writing tips: What I want to blog about vs. what I actually blog about

Married to medicine: Letter to a young doctor’s girlfriend

The Savvy Surgeon's Wife Blog

Categories

Archives

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