I Never thought that I'd be Writing a Book...

So, I have written many articles about writing and my journey. However, this one continues from writing about my journey, and I am also going to be talking about my upcoming book, and who and what started me wanting to write it.

I had always dreamed of becoming an author, and when I was a child I used to write a lot of stories, poems and other things. I have already talked about the teacher who accused me of copying a story I wrote for school out of a book in a previous article, so because I am STILL disgruntled with him I won't go there (sorry sir!)

Well then, where do I begin? Knowing where to start with this article is a bit tear-jerking and overwhelming, because after a bad start in life, and having not really achieved much through trauma and illness, it's a bit difficult to put into words, especially with the overwhelming support from Vocal and the wonderful author Lisa Orban ( I have permission to mention her name) who encouraged me to start writing my upcoming book 'Carrie in Love.' You can visit my authors page here for more on that! https://www.indiesunited.net/carol-townend

My book is not a self-help book, or a professional book of any sort. It is a unique book, in the sense that I use fictional characters to play out a true story about love and relationships when it comes to mental health. You get romance, heart-ache and pain in my story, as you follow Carrie and Julian who both have mental health issues on their journey to make their relationship work. This is book 1 of my book, which will be in three parts because it isn't a 'soft happy-ever after story,' where the couple go on their journey, get married and all their problems are solved. There are no real heroes in my book. It is based on reality, both the good, bad, stormy and ugly as the couple face many long-standing difficulties with their past, feelings, emotions, self-esteem and confidence which conflict and upset the balance of their relationship. Later, in Book 2, Carrie falls pregnant, but I am not going to spill the details on what happens in that book here! Anyway, before I give the entire book away...I will stop right there!

When I first started writing my book, I was really nervous. I have never published a book before and I have in fact started with a complicated story. My book takes a lot of work, research and reflection on my own mental health experiences and the stigma that came with that. I was lucky enough to be a part of the Time to Change campaign as a champion which ended at the end of March 2021, and I learned so much more about stigma from that which educated me and made me aware of the stigma I faced from some professionals and members of the public, this got worse and worse after I became a parent. At the same time, I learned about how mine and my own husbands severe mental health problems impacted on our parenting and caused disruption to the children's upbringing, and I especially learned how the violence and homelessness I faced as a result of this severe stigma before I met my husband also caused many hardships in my parenting, and how I was made to feel worthless about my situation instead of being helped. This is also focused on within my book.

Deciding to write a story like this as a first time author was a difficult decision to make, as when I first started writing I was still in the grip of trauma and mental health problems, particularly PTSD from my past issues which still affect me today. Lisa is my brick of strength. There are times when I become frustrated because I can't get it published fast enough, and times when all the legalities of what I can and can't use in my book become complicated, and although Lisa lives in the United States while I live in the U.K., she is always there cheering me on, giving me confidence and a helping hand, every step of the way. It is thanks to the confidence I get from Lisa, that I was able to get a higher distinction award on my Creative Writing CPD certificate. The reason being that her ability to bring out my confidence gave me what I needed to enable me to do it, and that certificate is really helpful when writing my book, as I have many tools at hand to do so.

I never stop writing, I was born to do it. You can see just by looking at my profile on here, my blog and on Medium that I write about just anything. I never stick to one niche. I go with my heart, soul and my passion and I just write. Of course, when planning my book, I have to think about character, plot and setting, just like any other writer writing a book. I have mentioned before that I use mind-mapping skills to help me with this, where I draw a map of little bubbles that links the plot and the characters together. This helps me in many ways, especially with my book where I need my characters to be unique, individual and quirky in there own ways. I then like to portion each plot out bit by bit, in little clips on paper (using a pen, old skool!) so that I can see where in the story this story-line fits in. However, when writing on the computer, I just let my words flow, and check later so that I can see how it is coming along.

I am not just a writer, I have also mentioned in my other articles that I am a full-time-at-home-carer, which can take up a lot of my time and sometimes can be disruptive to my writing. Before this, I could just sit for hours and write, now I have to try and break it up so that I can take care of other things, though I won't let this stop me. Lisa won't forgive me if I did anyway! However Lisa is very caring towards my situation, she is also very patient and very calm. I can't thank her enough for that, because I do tend to panic when I don't find time to write my book. Everyone who writes with the publishing house I am writing my book with is really friendly, and the authors are intriguing. Every single author is unique, many with their own issues, though we all have one thing in common, we love the creativity and passion of writing in every way possible.

One thing I see a lot with writing is "Get rich quick" articles and schemes, however in my own opinion, this is the wrong way to look at it. Writing simply does not work like this. It is an art in which one must continue to hone their skills and enjoy the creative flow that goes with it. Many writers out there stick with one niche or how to articles because this is where the "Get rich quick" schemes are mostly targeted. However, you should explore different styles and niches because this is where you can learn to become more creative, and you will learn to be able to enjoy writing rather than just focusing on the cash that comes with it.

Remember, build your skill, focus on your creativity and don't become too focused on money. This way, you will be able to increase your creativity, which leads to better enjoyment when creating your next work of art.

If you enjoyed this article, please feel free to leave a heart or tip me if you can. Any of these are really appreciated, and thankyou for reading.

To find out about my book, visit the following link:

https://www.indiesunited.net/carol-townend

You can find out more about Lisa and Indies Publishing House where I am publishing my book here:

https://www.indiesunited.net/

You could also read the following articles:

https://vocal.media/journal/writing-a-book-a-whole-new-journey

https://vocal.media/journal/new-ways-to-cope-with-writers-block

https://vocal.media/journal/write-for-fun-not-just-for-cash

https://vocal.media/motivation/being-me-and-being-a-writer