Want to put my experience suffering with a mental health condition into a novel

Hi dylanpatrick

sorry to hear you're in hospital , but hopefully with the right treatment.  you will start to feel better.

.I don't know a great deal on how to get a book published, only that there are many stages to get through first. Sending copies of books to possible publishers is the final stage of a long hard journey.

You haven't been at the hospital long, so perhaps you should concentrate on getting the right treatment and using your energy to help you get better.

Its great that you have a project to aim for, and I think that's something you could work towards.

in the meantime, why not do a creative writing course. This would occupy you and give you an interest without the pressure. You haven't been in hospital long, so concentrate on getting better first, rather than just focusing on this one thing and nothing else. Carry on writing notes for your future book, but don't let this idea consume you. You also have to be aware of the fact that publishers receive millions of books from would be authors and as such many go unread or discarded

Hope you start to feel better soon and good luck in your writing

Hi dylanpatrick

I agree with Vickylou, concentrate on looking after yourself and getting well first and foremost - keep the pressure off and keep the writing a therapeutic and secondary goal for now.

I think writing about your experiences is quite a therapeutic practice and while I don't know anything about writing a book, I'm currently writing an extensive thesis for my studies and I have a few pieces of advice that might be useful.

 

My first piece of advice would be to keep writing notes - these are essentially the first step to writing a book and are actually probably the most important part. I always find my best ideas and best writing comes when I'm relaxed or even when I'm frustrated about my work and vent about it in my research journal. it takes  t h pressure off and lets you write freely - it's enjoyable and extremely useful. When you come to write your book you can read through your notes, highlighting what you want to put in or even photocopy and cut out your notes and reorder them into the a flowing narrative around which you can construct the body of your book.

I find that I find it helpful to write about what I hope to achieve with my thesis, what story do I want to tell. This might be something worth thinking about - what are your hopes for your book, what messages do you want to convey and what kind of story do you want to tell. 

Also, remember that no writing is wasted writing - so far I probably have the best part of a thesis which won't actually end up making it into my final thesis. Writing is a journey (and a slow and repetitive one at times), but it's important to remember that even the words that don't make it into the final piece will have contributed greatly to your skill as a writer, and will make your book what it is.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck, look after yourself and enjoy your writing :-)

Hi dylanpatrick, I think that's a great idea! When I was in hospital I wrote a lot - I found it very therapeutic. Perhaps keeping a journal of your experiences and journey would help to be both therapeutic and provide a creative outlet? There are many publishing options which you could look into later - including self publishing. I would focus on your time in hospital and your recovery - it may prove to be the most important chapter in your story. All the best.