I’m brilliant at setting myself impossible challenges.

I got it into my head that I was going to write a book on mental illness but make it humourous. However, this is proving to be more challenging than I first thought. I want to educate the readers but also include humour because it takes the edge off of the topic of mental illness. It’s about tackling the ignorance in a non traditional way. I could write a straight matter of fact non fiction book about mental illness but this may not attract a wider audience who have no interest in learning about mental illness. If I make a comical type of book then it may attract many types of people that normally wouldn’t pick up a book on mental illness. In my head I had a whole book plan before I came to typing my manuscript. It isn’t transferring onto paper (well the modern day equivalent of paper via word processing) in the same way as it sounded in my head. I don’t want to offend those with mental illness by making fun of this type of illness. I’m trying to be very careful to maintain the balance so that my original idea works without those affected by the conditions mentioned in the book feeling like I’m making fun if the issue. I think that this book needs to be written but it’s going to be a difficult one. I’ve always chosen the hardest options in life and this book idea is just one of those decisions. I’m not giving any more details away because I am very aware of the idea stealing that happens.

3 responses to “I’m brilliant at setting myself impossible challenges.”

  1. I think it’s always (well, usually; sometimes) good to set ourselves challenges. This sounds like a worthwhile endeavour for both you and your prospective audience. My inclination is to think it’s best not to be too “precious” about mental illness: people will pick up on that and it could look patronising. Whereas humour, often close to the bone, makes something much easier to deal with and less fearsome. There’s a reason black humour is a thing, by which I mean amongst people who are particularly affected by the thing in question.

    Also include lots of bum jokes.

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    • I don’t want to upset people with black humour lol

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      • I’ll be upset if you don’t include toilet jokes. Using The Young Ones as a reference is always a good start IMHO. Some people may disagree, but that’s because they’re complete and utter bastards, as Vyvyan would eruditely state. Do you want an audience of complete and utter bastards? No.

        I may be slightly over-stating my point. *cough*

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