INSPIRING MAX

All of my adult life I have had a creative side. Not arty, but creative. Initially it was my knitting. I can knit in the dark and even as a 9 year old my tension was so perfect the teacher didn’t believe that I had completed my project. She thought mum had done it for me—no chance ever.

During my training as a psychiatric nurse in the 80’s picture knitting was in fashion. So you would find me at the back of the room taking notes and knitting with 20 little balls of wool running down the aisle—to match the number of colour changes I had in my self-designed picture. Occasionally a teacher who didn’t like our class would not let me knit and you would find me asleep. Being creative and productive with my hands helped me concentrate. Something I only recently found out is actually based on fact.

Photo Credit: Google Images Example of 1980’s picture knitting

In my 30’s I learnt to cross-stitch and I enjoyed creating my own designs. The creation factor was similar to picture knitting except that you could do more intricate work. I designed and made many children’s name plaques for their doors when they were born. It puts a smile on my face today, when I would go into their homes in their teenage years and still see them in their rooms albeit now they are in a corner.

My creativity has changed hands again. Today my main creative outlet is my writing. It began in 2009 when I set my goal for that year as becoming a writer. As a result my most prized possession was born. My book. It has been 5 years in the making, although during this time I took twelve months off due to life circumstances. This turned out to be a good thing for my book, as my writing style changed and suddenly everything fell together.

It is now 12 months since I completed my first draft. My next step was to test it out. I had to give it to others to read. I had mixed feelings about this. What if they didn’t like it? Who am I anyway? I knew everyone was exited about my book and thought that I was the perfect person to write a book on how eating disorder recovery is possible as I had been working in the area for over 20 years. The answer was that I had to back myself—believe in my self. I knew my book was good, practical and factual. I needed to put it out there and see what happened. So with pride I handed it the first person. And the next. And the next. That wasn’t so bad. I even had people coming to me to be reviewers, as they wanted to know what I had to say. Now I was excited, when I saw how excited everyone else was. The feedback form my patients was the most important to me. I wanted to make sure I didn’t come across as confusing or offensive in any way. The good news was that they loved it and thought it was the most comprehensive book on eating disorder recovery that they had read. Yes—I had achieved my goal.

Getting the core right was one thing. Now I needed to ensure the minor detail—editing, order-flow were the best that they could be and that I had left nothing out. To some of my patients surprise, I did find 3 more topics to add. Now the next challenge. Getting it published. This has been a step learning curve. I sent out a chapter early to Allen and Unwin’s The Friday Pitch and heard nothing back. Initially, I felt rejected but in hindsight I understand why and it helped me take my book to the next level. At present, I am preparing my final pitches to get my book traditionally published. I now know a lot more about it, than when I first pitched to Allen and Unwin and if I have no success I realise it is the process, not a validation of my book. My plan B is to self publish next year. Either way my prized possession will transform itself from its current chunky manuscript form into a beautiful, lighter book form that can help people everywhere.