I prescribe writing

American pediatrician William Carlos Williams pursued a writing career for his lifetime, famously saying that when he felt exhausted by his job, he took great consolation in another. His remarks might have resonated with Conan Doyle and Archibald Joseph Cronin who wrote “Sherlock Holmes” and “The Citadel,” respectively, in the doctor’s room. Likewise, I am also one of those doctors who give medical prescriptions or write stories. Advising my patients in my office is a great source of my writing world. Obviously, it is my career as an oriental doctor that takes up four-fifths of the inspiration for me to grow as a writer.

I find it incredible to see how the act of writing can connect two different worlds. Writing is an act that opens up a sphere and a process to look into a human being. To write prescriptions, I not only do a pulse diagnosis but also try to figure out how well my patient eats and sleeps, if there is anything else that gets him sick and why he must exhibit symptoms right now. In other words, reading an individual’s body constitution and his specific life circumstances aims to think hard to write the optimal prescription with all variables taken into consideration. Similarly, when you write a script, you need to think over what kind of a person the main character is, why he acts in a certain way, and in what relationship he is in with people around him.

Writing a patient’s prescription is no different than penning a play scene. Medicine can work its magic when its prescription is written with body conditions and herbal properties considered harmoniously, and each medicinal herb in the prescription is decocted to create a synergy effect. Likewise, a story can win over the hearts of readers when a play script is written in the delicately woven threads of characters and events. It takes a long, dull, and lonely time to complete a prescription or a story that works best at the dark desk alone. However, it couldn’t be better when I leave my office after getting the right one for my patient or encountering an aha moment for writing a scene. At this moment when spring is coming up so soon, I would like to prescribe writing for all of you who are reading this article. Whenever you find things harsh on you anytime this spring, I recommend writing a diary.