non-fiction writer

by carol sunnucks
5th February 2015

hi looking for someone to help me write a book on my birth experience

Replies

Hi,

This sounds like a piece of social research. Whatever you do, you need to give yourself some emotional distance to protect yourself, or else you could cause yourself some serious harm. A good way to do this is to find a confidant who is not involved, who will let you talk about how the project is affecting you. Whatever you do, keep a diary of your feelings and moods and check it. Give yourself plenty of breaks away from the topic in order to recover and recharge. Most Researchers have their own methods, but they all use some method of dealing with the feelings stirred up by their work.

You could do it like an "ethnograpy." that means using yourself as a research tool and recording your thoughts feelings and interactions. Approach it as if you are a "David Attenborough " character looking at the workings of some distant tribe.

Best of luck

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Roslyn
Renwick
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Roslyn Renwick
08/02/2015

Hi, thx Lorraine.

My story is fact based on the story of a women going through pregnancy with her first child, how the medical community let her down, through physical and mental illness before and after the birth, the fight to get proper medical treatment and the legal fight to bring the NHS and the doctor to justice. My story is an account of how pregnancy is viewed in our society, how women are mislead into believing the advice given to them by so called professionals and how other doctors, lawyers, advocates try and cover each others back, it has been a fight over nearly 7 years that has taken everything from me, including my career, my very precious intimate moments with my son, and the aftermath that has been my life, I have never written a book or even contemplated it, but I believe enough people aren't listening to people and enough women are not being given relevant information to assist them throughout their pregnancies.

I would appreciate advice on how best to tackle this,

thank you

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carol
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carol sunnucks
05/02/2015

You need to be more specific, Carol - what sort of help, what sort of experience? Do they need to have medical knowledge? Are you looking for a ghost writer or an editor?

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Lorraine
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Lorraine Swoboda
05/02/2015