Novels
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A Therapist Writing Novels?

By David Joel Miller, writer, blogger, and mental health professional.

Why did I start writing novels?

There are several reasons I shifted from writing blog posts and then writing a nonfiction self-help book to writing novels. I’m not sure there was a conscious decision here. In past blog posts, I’ve talked about how I got started writing a blog and how, after several years of writing that blog, I finally published my first book, a nonfiction book about adjustment disorders.

If I had known how difficult writing and publishing a book was, I might’ve been deterred from even starting on it. The process involved has a rather steep learning curve; unfortunately, I am still climbing that mountain. But this writer’s blog is designed to chronicle that journey from wanting to write to having written.

It definitely wasn’t for the money.

I know many people have the vision of writing a best-selling book and making lots of money. The truth is that for most people, it takes years to write that book and even more time to market it before you see any return. If you figure out what authors as a group make from writing and publishing books, what they are bringing home per hour is an incredibly small sum.

While I continue to hold onto the dream that one or more of my books will be somewhat successful, the reasons I’ve written them are largely non-financial.

Finishing a book involves more than just writing more pages.

A good part of my journey toward writing was divided between studying the art and science of writing and publishing and the time I spent putting words to paper. Learning how to create a book someone might want to read is one task. Turning that manuscript into a tangible product that someone can read is an entirely different matter.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that when I refer to writing, I’m referring to dictating. Initially, I spent a lot of time “pounding the keys. As a result, I developed carpal tunnel syndrome. Out of necessity, I learned to dictate, which is another skill altogether and beyond the scope of this article.

Maybe I should blame it on a famous writing coach.

While finishing up that first nonfiction book, I came across some articles by a well-known writing coach talking about writing both fiction and nonfiction at the same time. Inspired by those articles, I planned to produce two series of books. One series would be my nonfiction self-help books, and the other a series of novels. I won’t mention that writing coach’s name here since I wouldn’t want to blame them for all the errors I made in trying to carry out that plan. Why I decided to write a novel is the topic of this post.

I have always been an avid reader.

The short version of why I wanted to write a novel was that until I graduated from high school, I read a lot of fiction. Before the Internet, streaming, and even before the advent of most television programs, people entertained themselves by reading.

Once I entered the workforce, I read mostly nonfiction technical books. It took me a long time to return to reading novels, but to learn to write quality novels, I’ve returned to reading fiction, this time with different eyes.

I had always wanted to be a writer.

There was part of me that had always wanted to be a writer. Books were a big part of my life growing up. Being an only child and moving frequently, I read incessantly. The characters in the books were often my best friends.

Often, when you grow up around something, you think it is the career path you should take. I got discouraged from ever writing anything for anyone but myself early on. My poor vision and my even worse spelling meant that most of the feedback I got on my schoolwork was highly negative. And I definitely didn’t get much encouragement at home.

I always did a lot of daydreaming.

Daydreaming seems to be necessary for the creative process. I certainly didn’t know that when I was in elementary school, but I spent a lot of time all the way through high school sitting in class, basically zoned out while living out some fantastic daydream.

In the recesses of my mind, there was always some exciting adventure going on. I took the ideas from my classes and became the one building the railroad, finding a cure for a rare disease, or bringing peace and prosperity to some fictional country.

What I couldn’t do was translate those daydreams into anything tangible.

Small accomplishments drowned in the sea of negativity.

From this perspective of age, I recognize that there were some small academic successes in my early life. But the constant reminders of my errors and the lack of enthusiasm or encouragement from my family overshadowed those accomplishments. This is a hint for parents. Make sure that you catch your children doing something right. You don’t encourage achievement by pointing out all of the deficits. An occasional round of applause can inspire a child to move in a particular direction.

My poem gets published, and my play gets produced.

In elementary school, I wrote a poem that was published in the school paper. To me, it was just a matter of fact. I didn’t take it as anything special. I don’t recall any special praise from my teacher, and I’m not sure my parents ever acknowledged that poem. I didn’t try my hand at writing poetry again until high school.

I also tried writing a play that my church youth group produced. Looking back, it was probably an awful piece of literature, but the fact that they went to the effort of actually producing it should have meant something.

One thing creative people have to get used to is doing things for their own satisfaction. The critics are often harsh, and the round of applause is rare.

Writing fiction was one way to meet my need to be creative.

I always felt the need to be creative. During middle school and high school, I got involved in photography. The science of mixing chemicals in working in the darkroom was as much an attraction as the artistic part. Because, at that time, being a photographer was considered an occupation where I could earn a living, and writing was seen as a sure route to poverty, my photographic interest was encouraged.

I gave photography my best effort, but the combination of my poor eyesight and marginal social skills brought that career path to an early end.

Telling stories without revealing client details.

Once I began working in mental health as a counselor and therapist, I discovered the power of stories. One theory of counseling is called narrative therapy and is based on the idea that the stories we tell ourselves end up being our reality.

I knew there were stories I wanted to tell about how people struggle and overcome problems in their lives. I thought every day in the work I was doing and hoped that sharing some stories might encourage some people and be a fun way to engage my creativity.

As a therapist, confidentiality is one of the highest principles in our code of ethics. Without the client’s permission and short of the legal mandate, everything the client tells us stays confidential. My dilemma was how to explore some of the issues I saw people struggling with and the solutions they had found without violating their confidentiality.

The answer, of course, was to write a novel set in a different place in a different time with fictional characters and see how they struggle with their problems and the solutions they created.

In future blog posts, I’ll tell you about the process of creating those six novels and my plans for additional novels.

Staying connected with David Joel Miller.

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now! And more are on the way.

For these and my upcoming books, please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

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For more information about David Joel Miller’s work in mental health, please visit the counselorssoapbox.com website.

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