Chronic Illness Memoirs and The Problems With Writing Them

I read a beautiful book about a woman with bipolar disorder. It was a great book that I couldn't put down. I finished it with breakneck speed. It was fascinating to read about what this woman went through in her life and the challenges that she continues to face on a daily basis, including her hospitalizations and the effects on her husband and child. She was very candid about many things, including her violent episodes where she made an attempt on her husbands life, during a manic episode.

I left a dazzling review, however I read the reviews that were left from the book. While there were many five star reviews, there were a plethora of bad reviews. Mostly from those who suffered with bipolar disorder.

I live with bipolar. I could have written a more true to life book. The most true accounts were from her son and husband. Don't waste your time on this read.

Was quite disappointed in this book. Thought it was going to be about living in a bipolar mind on a day to day basis and the struggles-not just the crisis and hospital visits. Not worth reading.

I, suffering from depression and bipolar condition, was disappointed with this book.
It did not give me a lot of information, nor was it particularly interesting. I should have guessed from the title. Maybe just not my style.

I get really confused by reviews in this category of books. The reader often places expectations on a book by whatever means and then if the book does not live up to these expectations, they rate the book a failure. One of my books received a review from a woman who hoped that the book would be "inspiring" and "uplifting". But the title of my book is, "Diary of a Sick Chick". One woman accused me of navel gazing. Well if one can't "navel gaze" in a diary, where can you? Nowhere did I promise that the book would be inspiring and uplifting. It was just my life. Whether you find it inspiring, insulting, or downright boring is up to the reader. However, when I read books, I try not to put too many expectations on a book. I don't go into it thinking that it will somehow magically make me feel better. I'm either looking to be entertained or enlightened. I hope to come through the experience different. That's all. For better or for worse. I don't look for inspiration, especially in chronic illness memoirs. I look for truth. I look for honesty. That's all. I look for authenticity. I look no further and expect no more.

I'm writing a new book called, "The Bible of Chronic Illness". Where my last books about illness were about lupus, this one will be more inclusive of all diseases. I learned that there are many similarities with the struggle of living with sickness and that I could put together a book that would promote that. 

When reading a chronic illness memoir, don't look for entertainment. Honest, Truth, and Authenticity are good enough. When you're getting the truth, it is the best. You don't want to put lipstick on a  pig anyway. It's still a pig. 

Writing With A Chronic Illness

Sometimes the hardest thing in the world is to think. To have a coherent thought. To be able to form a sentence regardless of the pain that you're feeling. To feel motivated to finish a paragraph. To care enough to check for grammar. To feel desperate to create by smiting that nagging, blinking cursor on the screen.

It's easier to hide under a mountain of pillows, chuck some pills, and stare in a daze. It's easier to stuck in a good novel on my Kindle while my manuscripts suffers silently. My characters are left in suspended animation waiting on resolution to a conflict. Waiting for that inciting incident that's going to take their lives from order to chaos; a simple scientific lesson on entropy.

There are many days that I've sat and watched the cursor blink away at my face....taunting me that I'm not getting anything done. Then there are days that I've looked up and twenty pages have passed...and I'm still writing.

Those days I try to take advantage of because who knows when I'll be able to write again. I try not to think about other writers out there, churning out books, blogs, and articles like nothing. I try not to think of those writers who get up at seven am in the morning and write until lunch time. Or those writers that take their show on the road and have several pages completed daily. What are they doing that I'm not? Do I make excuses for myself because of my illness or do I realize that I have more time on my hands than I've ever had before?

I guess both are true. On days that I don't feel well, then I don't push it. Besides, whatever I do write comes out like crap anyway. I try to keep a pen nearby with my trusty legal pad and jot ideas down. Sometimes I like to "free write". That's when I just type whatever comes to my head. On days that I do feel okay, I try to write something...anything. This is why an outline is the best way to go when writing a book. I've been stuck on my current book so long I don't know what to do anymore. I get as lost as a toddler in a mall. Stuck and not loving it.

So excuses don't help anyone. I'm sure the writers who aren't slackers will tell you that. How else can you get anything done?