Writing a Book: A Whole new Journey

Many years ago, if someone had told me that one day I'd be writing a book, I would have laughed at them and told them that my writing wasn't good enough. I have been writing all my life; stories, journals, poems, and many other things that often got put on paper, and then disappeared into thin air because they never made it into publication because I was too damn embarrassed to send them. Hell! even a teacher at school told me that I had the potential to write a book, after viewing the 12- page short fiction (which was only supposed to be 2 pages long!) I wrote for an English lesson. Yes sir! I was only 13, but I still have not forgiven you for making me prove I didn't copy that out of a book. Yes, he really did that after all my hard labor of putting that story together! Nonetheless I still thoroughly enjoyed writing that story, which encouraged me to write many more, of which went untold to the public, but always got read out in class at school.

I have written many true-life experiences myself on Vocal. In fact, my journey through writing these and many other different pieces have encouraged me to go on a journey to write a book. My book is a complicated task because it plays out a relationship between two people who have very different mental health problems, and they are faced with many life problems and stigma as they go on this journey. Due to the nature of my book (which I am intending to write a 3 book trilogy in order to comprehend the different stages of mental health and events within the story), I sit down not with my laptop, but with many pieces of paper drafting the characters, their styles, their roles, the plot of the story- line(which often changes to reflect the mental health changes) and the planning goes on for hours as I have to focus on developing each character at a time before I can use them in my book.

Writing a book for publication is a brand new journey for me, and although I am certified in the humanities, it is a very different experience from reading and analyzing other people's work. I don't rely on many professionals, I proofread and check most of my work by myself, which can take longer, but as long as I'm enjoying it, it doesn't matter. I'm finding that keeping a notebook or journal to write ideas into is really useful because when I am busy, I often come up with the best ideas so I like to get these down while they are fresh in my mind. I also took a CPD course in creative writing, which I took with course mix. If you want to view it, the link is: https://www.thecoursemix.co.uk/courses/creative-writing-course

I learned many techniques here, although the course concentrates on fiction writing. However many of the techniques such as character, setting, plot etc are the same in fiction writing as non-fiction. I chose to use a real town in my book because I felt it needed to be realistic in some sense as to the nature of the story. However, I have used fictitious characters though their illnesses are based on real-life experiences.

I'm not a person who goes straight in at the deep end with a story. It is all very well just sitting there and typing up whatever is inside your head, however, if you are going to write a story like the one I am writing, you'll end up making a lot of mistakes and the end result will be a story that doesn't make any sense at all. Planning, plotting, research, working out the characters, and drafting on paper are important because they enable me to get an idea of where my story is going and ensure that the sequence of each part leads to the next.

Throughout my writing journey, whether for fun or work. One thing I learned is you really need to play with your story. You need to ensure consistency but you also need to be sure that when the characters do change the state of events, that the plot changes appropriately. This might not be the same for every story, but mine is about mental health, and when we go through stages of recovery, those characters adjust and change with the stages.

I started my book around 4 years ago, and I am still writing it. However it is my very first book and like many authors and writers, I want to make sure it is right before it goes on sale. It doesn't matter how much time it takes, what really matters is that you are working towards your goal of becoming published and that you are satisfied with your story before you publish it.

Writing here on Vocal, enabled me to start my story. I use it as a balancing act between the serious and the fun. After all, writing is meant to be fun even when serious. It can get on my nerves sometimes, but I have always said patience is everything.

If you liked this article, please heart and share. Tips are nice but they are optional. Also below is a list of other stories you might enjoy:

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/poets/our-beautiful-world-vciy790lyj

https://vocal.media/families/dear-mum-z8jdde0lca

Are you thinking of writing for Vocal?, then please click this link to find out more about Vocal+ and what it has to offer:

https://vocal.media/vocal-plus?via=carol