Active Now

Slartibartfast
Discussion » Questions » Health and Wellness » I think maybe I am supposed to write a book. Agaisnt all odds, I do not have cancer. I am supposed to write "What If I had lived?"
WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH

I think maybe I am supposed to write a book. Agaisnt all odds, I do not have cancer. I am supposed to write "What If I had lived?"

I mean I am not sure if I can even write  a book.    How hard can it be anyway?   I am not commanded to write some best-seller.  I am urged inwardly to put pen to paper and log my experiences of the last few months to maybe bolster other people who must endure this kind of circumstance.   The waiting is horrific.  Scary and especially if you are alone.   


Posted - February 12, 2019
Tags : None

Responses


  • 53509

      If you write it, they will read it. (I will be first among them.)

    [against]

    ~
      February 12, 2019 6:49 AM MST
    0

  • 46117
    Let's see.... where do I begin?


    Let's start with we must kill Sharon.  In order to reach self-realization, we must kill the ego.   That is what I mean.

    I must go to Jack In the Box and get a sandwich.   I am hungry.  Chapter two


    This post was edited by WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH at February 12, 2019 6:56 AM MST
      February 12, 2019 6:53 AM MST
    1

  • 4624
    Hi Sharonna,
    I had the same realisation this last weekend.
    It helps to write a much better book if the writer can transcend his or her ego.
    Tricky think to achieve - leaving the "I" out of it - especially if writing from the first person singular point of view.

    I suspect the key to achieving it is via the same method as with all meditation:
    forget ambitions, kudos, how others might judge you via the work, etc,
    instead focus on the topic, what needs to be communicated and the quality of the language,
    let the style evolve naturally as an off-shoot of the ways you think: don't try to invent or force it,
    if it's fiction, learn about plot, character, setting, theme, dialogue and verisimilitude,
    if it's non-fiction check and double check every fact from reliable sources.
    Writing quickly and easily becomes a focused concentration meditation - it flows.

    Writing as an occupation has occupational hazards: 
    isolation, being cut off from life and experiences, lack of heterogenous mental exchanges with others
    the risks of being too sedentary, lack of exercise and weight gain. 
    To stay healthy and productive, one needs to create a lifestyle that counteracts and prevents these problems.

    The risk of ego is real.
    Publishers will promote the persona of the writer.
    It is guaranteed that once out there, there will always be at least one person who rudely objects.
    One cannot afford to get swept up in either the downsides or the subjective allures.
    Letting go of ego is the only protection. This post was edited by inky at February 13, 2019 12:24 AM MST
      February 12, 2019 5:31 PM MST
    2

  • 4624
    Anyone can write a book.

    There's a man in our area who is a dog whisperer.
    From a tragic family background, poor in Glasgow, Scotland, alcoholic and violent parents, he ran away from home at nine years old.
    He squatted in a deserted warehouse and joined up with a pack of abandoned dogs.
    He got a job as a cleaner at an abattoir and brought home offal to the dogs - which meant he soon became "best hunter" and top dog in his pack. He learned dog body language, pack behaviours and hierarchy and learned how to teach and train them.
    But from age nine he did not go to school - so grew up almost illiterate.
    He now earns his living as someone who can solve any problem between dogs and their owners.
    He dictated his story and methods into a recorder, then paid a typist to transcribe his words and an editor patch up the grammar.
    His book on his life and how best to train dogs is now a best seller; it touches the heart and it has hugely helped many thousands of dog owners.

    Writing a book is not hard -
    but there are billions of books on the planet, so getting published is widely agreed to be very hard to attain.
    Even when published, fewer than 10% of books are successful.
    Self-publishing is no longer "infradig"; it's become a perfectly acceptable practise but it comes with its own set of difficulties - the extremely hard work of promotion, distribution and selling.
    There are also millions of trashy and boring books that each year fail to sell, end up on the remainders tables at sales, and then in recycling or landfill.
    It's writing a really good book that is the challenge.

    The first key is to identify what is unique about your life that others would find interesting and/or benefit from knowing.



    This post was edited by inky at February 12, 2019 5:33 PM MST
      February 12, 2019 5:16 PM MST
    1

  • 7939
    Writing is easy for some people and hard for others.

    I'm glad you don't have cancer. I didn't know you were even waiting on a diagnosis. 

    Waiting on any kind of medical news sucks. Big. 
      February 12, 2019 5:41 PM MST
    1