Ry-Ry's medical school essay: We write to discover what we don't know about what we know.

Jesum crowbars! 

Ryan is applying to medical school after 5 years at Stanford. He asked if I could help him with his "Why do you want to be a doctor? essay. Naturally I said yes. But holy flying cows... it's difficult! This whole writing and revising deal is time consuming and messy... and when it's with a person you care deeply about...? Someone help me!

A few days later, we'd gone back and forth a couple of times. I ended up writing a revised version of his opening paragraph and Ryan wrote, "Jeezum, that paragraph is exactly what I want to say but for some reason when I try to put it on paper it keeps getting more and more complicated." 

Boy, didn't I understand that! So I wrote back on Facebook:

• • Sometimes my own editor Anne writes a paragraph or two for me to help me get on track. I have the idea but I can't find the exact words. So she gives me a few and then away I go. Do you remember ever watching the movie Finding Forester? City basketball player meets a reclusive writer? The writer gives the kid the opening paragraph and away the young kid goes. Interesting scene... pretty true.
    
    Getting this on paper is about living with it for a while and learning what it is you really believe.
    
    We write to discover what we don't know about what we know.
• 
  

  Thursday

  Ryan Kent

  • I'm quickly finding that last statement to be very true.
    
    I don't get off work until about 10pm EST. Maybe I'll step out of work for a while tomorrow morning, are you free around noon? Or I can call whenever this weekend. Thanks again.