by Zach Miller
Quick Summary
When Sue Anne Kirkham set out to transform her journal entries into a published memoir, odds are she didn’t expect it to take ten years. More than halfway in, she even considered scrapping the whole thing. But she persevered, and this month published "Loving Zelda: A Stepdaughter’s Caregiving Journal."
When Sue Anne Kirkham set out to transform her journal entries into a published memoir, odds are she didn’t expect it to take ten years. More than halfway in, she even considered scrapping the whole thing. But she persevered, and this month published Loving Zelda: A Stepdaughter’s Caregiving Journal.
Anyone who’s tried knows that writing well doesn’t just happen, it takes practice, and even once that’s accomplished it’s a far cry to writing an entire book. A good book isn’t just a string of sentences and paragraphs and chapters but a cohesive work of art built from language, emotion, narrative, and imagination.
Writing well is, and always will be, hard.
For Sue Anne, it started with the process of transcribing journal entries, emails, scribbled-on paper scraps, and notebooks into a computer. That alone took three years, and once she saw it all together, she realized that her readers would only understand how meaningful her caregiving experience had been if she added much more character development and a hefty backstory.
That realization, as helpful as it was, only added to her work. She ploughed ahead, and four years after her transcription ended, she had nine chapters done. Despite so much progress, though, she felt defeated by a lack of quality guidance. She thought she was halfway done, but was she, really? Without the right feedback, she couldn’t know. It was at this time she nearly quit.
The following year, Sue Anne moved to Rockwall, Texas and, little did she know at the time, right into the open arms of a writers group led by three published authors. With the help of the writers group, she refashioned the chapters she’d already completed and began writing at a much faster pace. Eighteen months later, the book was done.
“You grapple with yourself in this caregiving calling. At least I do. I guess it’s the baby boomer version of wanting to have it all, do it all. The superwoman complex becomes an oozing layer in the club sandwich of attending to your own household’s needs, worrying about your children’s problems, and staving off the tidal pull toward the ultimate exit that aging parents force us to face.”
Sue Anne spent years writing her story, and poured her soul into the work, but now she needed to publish her book. Thankfully, Sue Anne found a reputable publisher to work with (for a fee), and her book is now available online for purchase. The publishing process can be difficult, and it's particularly frustrating when encountered as a fresh obstacle immediately in the wake of the triumph of completing the writing process.
Writing will always be hard, but publishing doesn’t have to be.
The Minnesota Libraries Publishing Project (MLPP) provides online publishing tools and training information to support independent authors and small publishers. MLPP provides Minnesota writers access to Pressbooks free of charge. With that access comes the means to design, export, print, and share books at a professional standard. Visit the MLPP website for more information about the project, provided to you by Minnesota's libraries.
