John Lawrence was born in New York, grew up England, and attended Georgetown University where he told his career advisor that the only thing he did not want to be was a doctor. He subsequently survived medical school and residency training in Utah.
John was not the typical medical student, sneaking out of the hospital whilst on-call to audition for television shows; writing film scripts (The Cyclist, available on Amazon!) and working to overcome his imposter syndrome.
John’s varied non-medical resume includes river rafting guide, ski race coach, bagel baker, screenwriter, film director, and expedition doctor climbing Kilimanjaro with Olympic Hall of Fame athlete Chris Waddell.
Let’s get started with a quick rapid fire.
Q1. If you could be transformed into one mythological creature, which one would you choose?
A mentally stable, successful writer, with a balanced life…That’s too crazy, how about a Dragon – definitely increased the chance of getting cast on House of the Dragon.
Q2. What time do you usually go to bed at night?
Before my kids.
Q3. What are the least-likely three words someone would use to describe you?
Unrivalled goat-herding prodigy.
Q4. Where did you go on your last vacation?
Swimming in the sea and swinging from trees (truly).
Q5. Would you rather find your dream job or win the lottery? You can’t do both.
You can’t do both. Dream job.
Q6. What is one thing you regret spending money on?
That last round of tequila, February 07, 1998.
Q7. If you were a spy, what would be your codename?
Spanish Eddie.
Q8. What secret about the universe would you most want to learn?
The recipe for the best pizza ever.
Q9. What never fails to make you laugh?
Fawlty Towers.
Q10. What was one “before” and “after” in your life?
The Year 1992.
Q11. What do you think people misunderstand about you?
That I actually think I know what I am doing.
It’s time for a more detailed conversation, John.
You’ve answered our rapid fire brilliantly, John. Now, it’s time for our readers to know more about the person behind the book.
Q. Tell us something about yourself that’s going to keep us wanting more.
I came very close to bleeding to death in a manscaping accident this year but was saved by those clips you can use to close potato chip bags. I refused to go to the ER because there was no way I was telling a hospital receptionist why I needed to be seen and having them announce that across the building’s PA system. After becoming lightheaded from blood loss, I eventually sutured myself back together, and decided the story’s details could be included in my latest book, Playing Doctor Part Three, as part of a chapter on ways that I did not want to die – others were freezing to death or being hacked to pieces on a sidewalk in Fielsole, Italy by a renowned serial killer (both of which might have happened on the same night).
Q. Well, that’s just…memorable for sure. So, what books have you read more than once in your life?
I have been re-reading continuously, on repeat, the Game of Kings Series and House of Niccolo series, by Dorothy Dunnett, since the mid 1990s. I am constantly re-reading them along with any other books I might be reading…and they just keep getting better and better… The Unbearable Lightness of Being (but not for many years); The name of the wind and The wise man’s fear because we are all still waiting for book number three; The Last Lion (books 1 and 2); Gates of Fire; But really, this is a trick question as the most re-read books are my kid’s books that were often read 17 times a night, in a row: the list is long, but includes: The Dinosaur who Pooped Christmas, Press, The Book Without Words, That’s Not my Puppy, Good Night Gorilla, The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom..and on and on….
Q. Interesting. Who has been the biggest supporter of your writing?
My wife for gifting me the time and space to actually write when there are kids (3) and dogs (4) all needing attention. For her to grant me that time, along with the freedom to do so, without telling me to go get a third job as well, that has been a tremendous support. I also have an “accountability group” (membership: 2) with my dear friend Chris Waddell. We both set deadlines for writing, voraciously encourage each other, share our successes and discuss the emotional ride, the fun, the critics, the fears that we experience. Having someone to share drafts, share ideas for battling inner critics, and mostly to help you laugh at yourself has been invaluable.
Q. Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
The nature of my series, Playing Doctor, was based around my personal story of going through medical training – along with embarrassing stories of my social life at the same time – so the secrets were more based around the few people who would know what or who I might be referring to in certain tales. In my screenwriting, which is not based on personal stories, I have not hidden too much. But one secret I hid, for any fans of the cult classic film, Spinal Tap, was written into the physical exam notes I wrote for the iconic Rob Reiner. Upon meeting him, I started acting similar to a teenage girl in the 1960s seeing the Beatles but managed to complete the doctor’s exam required for him to be insured on a film set. When I wrote the physical part, for all you fans of the brilliant Stonehenge scene, endangered of being trampled on by dwarves, I wrote that Mr. Reiner was 6”2 (six inches tall) – my homage to Ian Faith’s confusion.
Q. Now comes the most anticipated question that every author must answer. How do you process and deal with negative book reviews?
I run away. I run away, stick my head in the sand, and don’t look at them – the good or the bad. I just don’t look anymore. When I read a critical review, I go through all five stages of grief, so I just do not read them anymore. Unfortunately, sometimes they are shown to you, or you have to read them for some reason. And I take it all to heart. This is obviously an issue I need to deal with and should really go get some therapy—and maybe it explains why I like the creative arts, forcing me to deal with whatever issue is at the heart of the matter. One comment I liked I overheard in a podcast with Dax Shepherd when he said: What other people think of you is none of your business. I also like getting to the point of accepting that negative reviews are not personal critiques, that your work is just not for everyone –– but even knowing that, in the moment, it sucks.
Q. What comes first for you — the plot or the characters — and why?
I’ll answer with regard to screenplay writing – they are inherently connected. For me, I think a nugget of an idea appears, maybe it starts with a conversation, “What if….” And that idea forms into a plot, which typically has the type of character, developing at the same time, that works best in that situation—and by best, I mean, a character that would be most challenged in that situation. Then the development might see-saw back and forth, expand the character as the plot might open in new directions…or the plot goes somewhere and the characters needed to fill it out take shape based on what adds the most conflict, or need to create. But if you had to pick the chicken or egg, for me, so far, probably some small idea that will spark a plot precedes character infinitesimally. I don’t think I’ve ever just come up with a character idea and built a story around it.
Q. How do you develop your plot and characters?
Once I have a rough idea of the plot and characters, I start writing out what might be called a rough outline. This might be pages of scenes, of ideas, of the characters that would inhabit those spaces. The plot will start to take a logical form.. what story are we telling, and therefore where do we start, where do we end and how would we get there—I’ll often take craft notes I’ve had from different screenwriting lectures and break down the storyline into acts to see what might be missing to drive the story, or where I will want to expand. The development of plot and character are linked as we’re using the plot to challenge that character, so the more specifics we know about each one, the more the other can develop. Working to find deeper character development is more difficult for me, I will occasionally write out character ideas: what is their want, the obstacles for that type of person, write a few paragraphs imagining the script was written from their POV instead of the Main Character’s and see what comes up, how they would respond differently if it was their film… trying to find some depth. I probably spent a lot of my life deflecting vulnerability/pain and so it is natural to do the same with characters, but that is not good for scripts demanding depth and compassion for the protagonists (or antagonists), so I am working on tapping into those deeper emotions to imagine how characters might act. One tip I’ve read is that we want/need our characters to make bad choices, otherwise not much develops in their story. I’ve made lots of bad choices, so it comes easily.
Q. You got 100 points. You need to divide them on the basis of how relevant and important they are to you as a reader and a writer for your book or someone else’s as a reader. Your options are Plot/Story, Dialogues, Book Cover, Marketing, and, Reviews.
Oh man, what a tough question, I didn’t expect a math quiz!! As a writer I’d like to say that all that matters is the story – that’s it (with story encompassing plot and dialogue), all 100%. But without a good cover or targeted marketing, your readership will likely never grow. So, Plot/Story 40, Dialogue 20, Book Cover 15, Marketing 15, Reviews 15.
Q. So, now, about your book. Talk to us about it. No major spoilers.
The Playing Doctor series is my candid and bluntly self-deprecating story of journeying through medical training – and my POV was not typical. I never planned to be a doctor (I told my college career advisor that the one thing I did not want to be was a doctor) and did not take a single pre-med class in university. Then when I was actually accepted to medical school (thanks to gender altering surgery – see book one for details), I ended up having a serious bike accident four weeks before school started (waking up in the hospital’s neurology ward), and then suffering another bike crash induced head injury the day before school started. Those accidents caused some traumatic head problems, including a small bleed in my brain, which resulted in some amnesia and a real difficulty staying awake, let alone studying medicine. So I had a somewhat different and irreverent view of the whole process compared to many of my classmates who knew they wanted to be cardiologists since their time in utero. Meanwhile, I still wanted to be a writer, director, actor and would sneak out of the hospital for auditions. I would also pen email blasts out to friends while I was being held captive in the hospital on call nights. The stream of conscious group emails at three in the morning when I was on call. These were stories of the day’s escapades blunders, mistakes, fears, and painful interactions that seemed to surround my training—these streams of conscious descriptions led several friends to inquire if I was breaking into the hospital pharmacy. Eventually someone asked if they could publish the stories and I replied that I would write out the whole experience. And the next day I started writing it all out, start to finish. Fortunately I kept many notes documenting actual patients, conversations and the otherwise noteworthy escapades in my life. It was intended to be a light, fun read, not a heavy tome about the seriousness of medicine, quite the opposite, although there are some heartfelt stories.
Q. What part of the book did you have the hardest time writing?
I was going to say the comedic moments and dialogue, but I think, deeper than that, was the moments or passages when my own authentic voice would come through. It was not something that could be forced, but at times the writing would just flow. Sometimes it was an entertaining tale that I was expanding on and figuring how best to deliver, but other times it was a gut-wrenching moment and again, I guess you might call it flow, that the words were just streaming from somewhere unconscious. Now, as fun as that stream of words was to write, the many, many, many rewrites illustrated that my muse needs a serious editor along for the ride.
Q. What is your kryptonite as a writer?
Reviews, critics, internal and external – I can send myself into a tailspin and decide I am worthless as a person and writer and wonder why I thought I had anything to share with any sort of criticism (this could also be mere minutes after celebrating a brilliant scene I wrote).
Q. What risks have you taken with your writing that have paid off?
Just publishing seemed like a mighty risk. I self-published my books (hiring editor, cover designer for all the books and a head of marketing for the last two books). So putting it out into the world felt very risky. In terms of writing, there were several embarrassing stories about myself that I wrote and thought, “Do I really want my kids reading this stuff?” Same with discussing shared emotions—it would feel brutal to have readers criticize those moments because it would feel like a very personal attack. But without being willing to be vulnerable about what I was actually experiencing under my protective wall in the past, I don’t think people could have connected with the writing as much.
Q. Let’s talk about the process of writing. Do you do research while writing a book to add more authenticity? What kind and how far do you go – ever traveled to a foreign place just for the sake of your book?
The three books that make up the Playing Doctor series so far, were all based upon my experiences in medical school and medical residency training, so I suppose I could say that I put myself through a decade of medical school and medical residency research all for the sake of these books…and if that research is what it takes to become a writer, then it was all worth it! My screenplays are all fictional, but they too are in some way influenced by life experiences and often places I have visited. One rom-com was initially written with the idea of travelling to different countries where I had film connections and knew the locations well. The goal was to shoot a super low budget film through various European countries by using their film crews and everyone sleeping on sofas or floors (which worked well for the actors to look frazzled as their characters were in a race against time to find an old flame before the main character’s wedding took place) – it has since been significantly rewritten to one location. I did once go out of my way to travel to Cyprus because of a historical fiction novel that took me there in my imagination and I wanted so badly to see it in real life – and it lived up to all expectations!
Q. What was your hardest scene to write?
Whichever one I was supposed to be working on! It seems that every other scene is more appealing to be writing than any scene having issues. Given these were personal stories, I also had to balance some stories that were quite funny, but had the possibility of causing hurt feelings to someone else, so I opted to leave those out – the decision was not so hard – hmm, hardest scene… in some ways the opening paragraph/scene was the most re-written because you know that readers (and reviewers) might read that opening and start judging the writing style immediately, and since it was opening without being in the middle of the flow, it was certainly the most re-written scene in all three books. Also scenes with technical descriptions, I wanted to balance writing an entertaining book with also sharing enough details to make it interesting, but not too much to put readers to sleep much like my medical textbooks did to me.
Q. Well, this has been great. Now, before we wrap this up, do you have any suggestions to help someone become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Read your work aloud. I was used to reading “out loud” in my head, but once I actually read my work aloud with my voice, I found stumbling points, phrases that did not work, areas to improve, words I had repeated without seeing it right in front of me when it was easy to skim over in your head.