Recovery and creative writing: obstacles to creative story sharing |
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| Thursday, 07 April 2011 |
In a new series starting this month, mental health communicator Heidi Tweedie will explore some of the current and controversial issues facing those on their journey of recovery, their supporters and the professionals involved in their lives. Here, she talks to Scottish writers about their experiences. There's a chance to have your say and take part in our poll.  “Everyone has their own unique journey and this is the story of mine, but where I feel it might help to move somebody on in theirs I share some words from a poem.” Poet, writer and artist Lorraine Nicholson shares her motivation with many other writers with mental health recovery experience; the desire to share and inspire other people that recovery is possible.Alongside the desire to share come the central issues of how to distribute this work and who will read it. Additionally, there will always be differences of opinion on quality, validity and relevancy with any creative writing but the subject of writing in mental health, and its acceptance by the wider community, can be particularly controversial. Writer John Sawkins, previously an English teacher, points out the need for planning when writing, “You know you should always consider your audience and your purpose; yet when you’re writing from a personal mental health perspective you rarely consider these things.” John continues, “You have an urge to write. Plus when you’re manic you can convince yourself that people really need to know this stuff.” The therapeutic benefits of writing cannot be ignored (see quote below from Moniack Mhor’s Cynthia Rogerson) and creative writing has often been associated therapeutically with mental health; many writers’ first experience of expressing themselves can come whilst attending hospital or through referral services.  Jo McFarlane, Poet in Residence at the SRN National Gathering 2011, came to creative writing reluctantly having been referred to a writing group at a day hospital in Edinburgh. “Although I was used to doing essays or reports I didn’t think could do creative writing, partly because of my dyslexia. The teacher was great and freed me of my fears of writing. I learned that just because your thoughts can become disordered it does not mean you cannot write.”To grow her confidence Jo had the support of local charity Artlink who gave her access to professionals and published authors. “My advice is to find local writing groups and look on the internet for chances to perform. It can build your confidence and you’ll gain feedback on your work.” “Usually the first thing you will write will be autobiographical so you can get it written down and in some way get rid of it. This is better than it running around in your head,” explains John, whose his first novel ‘Defragmenting the Soul’ had been formulating in his mind for over ten years. Unfortunately it’s the very therapeutic nature of recovery writing that seems to turn publishers off. Lorraine received some extremely patronising comments when she approached literary professionals with her work, with responses such as, “Maybe you should content yourself with sharing with friends and family.” Not to be dissuaded she looked at reviews and journals for inspiration and then sent her manuscript to various publishing houses, unfortunately receiving only two responses. “I worked on my book for the best part of five years. I thought about giving it more editing but it felt wrong. Publishers wanted a more polished product. They look for an elite standard.”  The issue of editing and ownership is a one common for budding writers. “I made a decision not to go down the formal route of getting published.” explains Jo. “I wanted full control of my own material.” Instead Jo has chosen to self-publish her work and has seven full collections and two booklets already to her name (additionally she published a selection of work with the SRN for its National Gathering this year entitled ‘Coming up for air’). “There is a particular stigma regarding writing about abuse in poetry, it’s not seen as legitimate but rather therapeutic. You can get patronising responses from publishers. Once you write a book you have expectations of publishing and acceptance; these responses can be disillusioning.” Jo decided to take her own path using a cheap local printer, friends’ artwork and low cost binding. She feels her books don’t look professional and yet they have a wide informal readership through grassroots contacts. To fund the process she gets orders from people in advance but often gives her work to friends as gifts. She is not alone in this pursuit, “It’s now become fashionable for established poets to self-publish.” It took a chance meeting whilst at hospital with a relapse for Lorraine to find the desire to publish again. This meeting lead to Lorraine gaining a sponsor who put money up front to get her work published through his own networks. She also gained excellent support from a book designer who listened and got the essence of her book. “Their belief in me was fantastic and really boosted my self-esteem.” But her troubles did not stop there. As Lorraine points out, “Getting published was a journey in itself.” The next stage involved another larger publisher who was keen to distribute her book but not without consequences. The marketing department pushed her hard to do promotional work, jump through hoops at a moments notice and were not supportive of her wellbeing. Eventually the deal fell through and although this seemed like a huge disappointment it worked out well as Lorraine was able to realise just how many contacts and resources she had at her disposal without using a big publishing company. Finally printed in December, she has already sold over eighty copies via her international contacts and her website. Lorraine notes the process “was like giving birth!” Having explored traditional publishing routes John too found them unsupportive, “The big players like Waterstones are only interested in celebrity or local history books…there’s no real chance of getting in there.” He decided to use UK based social enterprise Chipmunka Publishing who specialise in publishing mental health books and e-books. “They rely on you to do your own editing and print copies on demand keeping costs low.”  John’s method is to get 200 books printed at a time and then take these to sell on at events or through his networks. “I’ve not made a profit yet, but it’s more about getting your message across.” Although he has turned a hand to some promotional work such as readings at events and conferences, he says, “I’m not commercially minded. If you really want to make sales you have to get quite cut-throat but writers tend to swap books with each other rather than go for a hard sell.” Strangely the support from others in recovery can be mixed. John remarks, “My books go down well with psychiatrists and other professionals; people with personal experience are not so keen as they seem to fear it returns them to a dark place, despite my light-hearted style.” “It’s a niche market,” explains Jo, whose performance poetry is now growing in popularity, “You’re speaking to people who are already receptive of your work.” Writing is unlikely to provide a stable career or income. It can even cause issues with benefits if earnings are suspected to be above a certain level. It’s not that many people in recovery are not keen to become self-sufficient; but the chasm between benefits and self-employment as a writer is huge. Despite the barriers and the setbacks the process of writing and publishing seems a vital component to Jo, John and Lorraine’s recovery journeys. As Jo puts it, “We all have a way to change the world in a small way and poetry is right for me.” As well as the links contained within the article, you might find these other resources useful: Scottish Recovery Network’s story sharing guidelines Scottish Poetry Library LuLu: Self publishing and book printing Scottish Book Trust What do you think about this issue? Use the Comment box below or take part in our Creativity Poll. Comments (1)
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This can be an expensive process and should be made clear to potential writers.
Also, anyone can self publish.