Good morning!
As I'm moving into my next writing project, a contemporary YA fiction, I've come to a point in my knowledge bank where I can work a little more of the things I've learned the past few years into my story.
A quick history of this project:
As I mentioned a post or two ago, I am revamping a set of short stories I began writing in high school. The first short story focused on the narrator's sorta-boyfriend, Jonny, and his mother. They both had a non-descript mental illness that made them closed off, impulsive and also manic-depressive (MDD). I always played with the idea of them having Schizo-Affective Disorder, but it's a fairly complicated illness, and being a teenager when I began writing that story, all I had to go on was the internet. I'm still not sure if they were true to the typical symptoms of that disorder.
Fast forward to today, or two or three days ago rather, I started writing the beginnings of this revamp (no plotting like I said might happen lol I'm a pantser, can't help it) with a new idea. First, as I'd actually focused on Jonny's parents in an early draft, I started with them again. This time, however, I got to use some more information. I was a secretary-type person at the Division of Developmental Disabilities services for 2-3 years before I got my current job. One of the duties they assigned me was taking notes, minutes, and copying off reports for a committee who documented the disabled clients that had behavioral disorders. So I spent months typing up and reading these reports, hearing about instances from their case managers and analysts where their behaviors spiked, and understanding the differences between the common developmental disabilities, like Downs Syndrome and Autism. I also learned of behavioral disorders like Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), Impulse Control Disorder (ICD); I even got to study documentation of a few clients with Schizo-Affective Disorder. (I probably should've gone into psychology, but I didn't realize how deep my passion was for knowing about these disorders until I was on that committee, and I don't particularly want to go back to college.)
So, I was given a foundation. I also knew by the time I put pencil to paper this week that the issue my Jonny and his mother would be dealing with was Asperger's with ICD, Anxiety, and Depression axes (did not know the plural for axis a minute ago) for Jonny's mother. I'm still on the fence about using IED, probably won't, but certainly either Asperger's with an ADHD or MDD axis for Jonny.
And something awesomely cool about the advancement of the internet: I found a blog by a mother with Asperger's (she didn't know she had it until her child was an adult). So, I can get experiences straight from a source to understand what a parent with Asperger's goes through. Just reading the first two posts in her series, I can see how frustrating and scary it must've been to know you're different but not why. We know so much more about Asperger's now than before (I only heard about it through Grey's Anatomy some years ago, and Asperger discovered it in the 40s).
I am on this diatribe to say that it's okay to write what you don't know if you take the time to research it, speak to people who've experienced it, and/or find blogs by people who've experienced it. Work to make it as real and plausible as possible. If this story sees the light of day, I hope someone will be able to relate to it, see themselves in it, and say that I did a good job portraying it.
Is there something you've wanted to write or something that has interested you that you yourself haven't experienced?
Greetings
- Debra Renée Byrd
- Delaware, United States
- Deborah Hawkins, penned Debra Renée Byrd, began writing after a blank book project in elementary school and never stopped, fashioning stories based on her favorite TV shows and movies before creating more original works. She studied at the University of the Arts and Florida State University before settling down and graduating from Temple University. She now resides in her hometown of Dover, DE, where she spends most of her time at work or at church. She loves fantasies, superheroes, is a trekkie and a brown coat. She loves television and lives for Final Fantasy video games, having collected most of them. She has read a myriad of authors, and her favorite authors change whenever she finds a new book that changes her life... "When you can't run, you crawl. When you can't crawl...well, you know the rest." -Tracey, Firefly, "The Message"
5 comments:
Research is what makes our job as a writer interesting. By the way, I love short stories, and I'm looking forward to reading yours. Have a lovely weekend.
Ooh, great post! As a diabetic, I've always been passionate about creating characters who deal with some kind of condition, even when it's one I can't personally relate to. I agree, research is so important!
My next book will be a WWII-based drama revolving around manly men in their Spitfire fighter planes and a young, feminine spy. Obviously, I can't be there, but I'm having a ton of fun learning about the men, the machines and the women who kept both running smoothly :)
GOOD LUCK with your project... it sounds like a labor of love :)
I wanted to do a WWII story once after walking through USS Intrepid. I was 10 at the time, but maybe one day. lol
I often use things I know and have experience in my stories because I know I can write them convincingly. I have plans to write about a character with scoliosis because I had it and went through the corrective spinal surgery.
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