You know, you should write a book...

[illbebetterthanjenny]

And my response is, no one would ever believe me!

I have been a nurse for 30 years. I have had a varied career all over the country and just seem to have a wealth of interesting, funny, heartbreaking and uplifting stories that people live to hear. When I deliver training it evaluates so well and the anecdotes I use to highlight whatever point I'm making have people so engaged.

Whenever people ask about my work and my career I get the same response 'you know, you should write a book' but where does a novice even start? My A at GCSE English will only get me so far!

I would be looking at less Call the Midwife and more This is Going to Hurt. Well actually something in between in all honesty.

How do I go about this before I end up in the Home for the Perpetually Bewildered and can't remember anything interesting anymore?

Do I just tweet Heidi Thomas and be done with it?

Write some...

Then look for publishers and see if they're interested

Or self publish

@mycatisaloveabledemon love your user name! My cat is a lovable hooligan!

I just don't know where to start. A series of entertaining anecdotes are just that.

I wouldn't know how to even find a publisher interested in that genre. I guess I'm looking for a mentor to guide me.

I have the belief it could be good but not in the belief in my abilities to make it good.

Just start writing down the antidotes.

At some point you'll notice a theme or a comment you want to make about a real issue, which will link them together.

Anecdotes *

There are memoir writing course you can sign up for, online and in local colleges, that would be a great start. Otherwise - just start writing. It’s good practice, the structure and whether you can sell it can come later. You need to find your voice first (and the training etc you already do will help.)

Hi Op
Have a look at youtube Internet about creative writing techniques and how to write about life stories

Also borrow a books from libarey on creative writing techniques and writing about life stories ect

Also books like this online that you can buy too,

Also there are creative writing workshops are quite popular too in various places ,

Check Internet, too about online workshops talks

Have you heard of eventbrite .com ?

A first draft doesn't have to be good; it just has to be written.

Keep going. Write as much as you can and keep what you like. Good luck x

@MissMissive

I didn't know about this,
Oh wow
I wouldn't mind doing a course like that too

Thanks for this suggestion

A memoir course sounds perfect so will look into that. I read a book by a nurse from where I trained. She fabricated her response to an IRA bombing that never happened as part of her 'memoir' and I was apoplectic with rage about it. I don't want to be that kind of writes

As non-fiction, memoirs are often (maybe generally?) picked up by agents on proposal rather than as finished drafts. See, for example, the guidance on non-fiction submissions on this agency’s website.

As you’ll see you still need a hefty writing sample, so all of the above advice about just starting writing, and perhaps doing a memoir course, still stands - but if you wanted to go down a traditional publishing route with something like this, you’d probably be working towards writing a proposal rather than the full draft.

The Writer’s and Artist’s Yearbook is the classic resource for finding agents.

But yes, as everyone above has said, the most important thing is just to start writing!