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I am a highly bizarre individual who is pushing sixty.
For over thirty years, I have toyed with the idea of writing my autobiography.
At age 21, I wrote up a list of all the things, thoughts, and experiences that made me unique, and gave them to a counselor at his request. They were things that I felt were too bizarre and statistically unlikely to have been duplicated by anyone else.
I came up with 360 items.
I went back to this counselor to retrieve this list for a few months later, but ill health forced him to retire, and his wife could not find the list.
At age 30, I decided to put my autobiography on cassette tape. I stopped after 18 hours. i still have most of these tapes, if they are even still functioning.
As fascinating as I feel my life has been, I am not a celebrity or person of any note.
I have limited skills and abilities, and have accomplished nothing noteworthy in life.
My "friends" and enemies, stemming from continual school bullying, along with my emotions, environment, sensitivities, awareness, multifaceted syncronicities, and disabilities have stifled my efforts at success.
Counselors or psychologists have never been able to help because I don't think they could understand me.
I have not had a single major issue, but dozens of issues, which I feel are beyond diagnosis.
I still someday hope to write a book, but i have no idea where I could find a publisher since I am a nobody.
Does any one have any idea on organizations I could contact that might help me find reason to write my book some day?
Check with your local public library - they may be able to refer you to a writing center in your area which could help you, and they will also have books on how to get published. Locally, our "literacy center" (which covers far more than basic literacy) offers classes and workshops on all kinds of writing, including autobiography.
Also check with your public schools - they may have adult education special interest classes which might include writing/publishing classes which might help you. If you live in a small community, go to the schools and public library in the nearest city.
Many books are self-published nowadays, with an on-demand basis. Computers and the Internet make it much easier to publish and promote your own material now. It would also be a good idea to read as many autobiographies as you can, noting what makes them readable or not so interesting, if you want to write and publish your own autobiography. The same story can be told in various ways, some far more interesting than others, since storytelling ability counts as much as if not more than plot and characters, when it comes to readability.
Also, have you thought of blogging? I have seen a lot of autobiographical material "published" in this way.
I agree with the above posters...The point of your book should be that you are just an everyday person, with unique life experiences. I think many ppl would be interested, and I agree...start a blog, and see how it goes. The only thing I might worry about is that once you put something on the internet, it sort of becomes fair game....You might try some of these e-publishing opportunities that are advertised these days...
And...just go for it....You might find out that there are others who do or have felt like you have. Good luck to you.
Here is the result from a google search..How to publish your e-book. https://www.google.com/search?q=how+...sm=93&ie=UTF-8
I appreciate these valuable responses, although I would not want to have the book published until I retire in another six to eight years.
This is because it is currently essential that I remain anonymous.
Once I retire, my anonymity would no longer be essential, although the sacrifice would still be great, since no one would look at me the same way again should my story ever be made public.
There are no support groups for the conditions I suffer from, since no other human has likely ever experienced anything even remotely similar to my multifaceted bizarre existence.
My education was what was most severely damaged
Not a soul alive can identify with me, so I suffer alone, hoping someday I will be understood to some degree.
On a positive note, my super consciousness, and extreme self-awareness have given me such a strong appreciation for life, that I will never be suicidal, nor will I ever suffer from the more " normal" problems such as alcoholism, drug addiction, or criminal activity.
Last edited by witsendman; 01-25-2015 at 02:34 PM..
Well I'm looking forward to reading this and I'll probably find some common ground. I think I'm weird sometimes too but try not to focus on that too much and as I've gone thru life and let some of those things slip out to friends as I got to know them I was surprised to find that they shared my thoughts and feelings on some of those things as well and I realized that it's not that it was so weird as it was things that people don't normally talk about but it doesn't mean they didn't think or feel them.
One thing I have to ask though is how your education was damaged? Maybe you got exactly the education you needed, whether it seemed to be true at the time or not? Most education is self education anyway--schools just give you the credentials to show to prospective employers, but no one can take the things away from you that you learned unless they erase your memory or something.
Well I'm looking forward to reading this and I'll probably find some common ground. I think I'm weird sometimes too but try not to focus on that too much and as I've gone thru life and let some of those things slip out to friends as I got to know them I was surprised to find that they shared my thoughts and feelings on some of those things as well and I realized that it's not that it was so weird as it was things that people don't normally talk about but it doesn't mean they didn't think or feel them.
One thing I have to ask though is how your education was damaged? Maybe you got exactly the education you needed, whether it seemed to be true at the time or not? Most education is self education anyway--schools just give you the credentials to show to prospective employers, but no one can take the things away from you that you learned unless they erase your memory or something.
my education was damaged in about 75 different ways from 7th to 12th grades mostly, but also into college.
I cannot even begin to give detail here, but the single most difficult barrier was my inability to deal with ' "The thing that wouldn't leave."
This "friend" was literally a genius, although he was a" D" student in high school. He is moderately well known today in the entertainment field.
During high school and college, he sometimes lived 60 miles away, and his home had no phone. He had his father's local address, with whom he did not get along, so he drove 60 miles to school every day during some of these years.
I was a chronic anti-procrastinator all through school. I wanted to get my homework finished before enjoying myself. I had a learning disability, so I took longer with homework.
My problem with this "friend" was that I was not assertive enough to get him to leave. He would walk home with me after school, and would want to stay for hours.
Even when he was not visiting, I could not fully concentrate on my studies for fear he would come by.
When in college, I never knew when he would come by. He never called since he had no phone( mid-seventies).
On weekends, he would just show up without notice and expect to be entertained for 14 hours. He was a night owl.
When I tried to tell him not to come by without notice, he would yell and defeat me with his superior verbal skills and intellect.
This went on about seven years, and is one of the major of the 75 events that prevented me from learning in school.
I recall one day when trying to study at home, i was so upset with not being able to concentrate, that I threw my textbook on the hard floor with all my might, and damaged it. I was so frustrated that my academic satisfaction was being destroyed.
Ironically, about 35 years later, I heard a guest on the coasttocoast late night radio show praise this "friend" for helping him.
He was unaware of the other side of this fellow.
I had spent about 11 or 12 years in various post-secondary programs trying to find myself, but the wrath of nature, an array of bizarre synchronicities, and my own lack of assertion destroyed me.
Today I am a college grad earning $20,000 per year.
I'm not sure I could understand. Anyone can write a book, if you have a stamina. However, almost no one can get a book published by a recognized publisher. Publishers naturally want books that sell, that will earn money. You say yourself that you've accomplished nothing noteworthy. Just because you have odd ideas, that doesn't mean you'd write a worthwhile book. So it's not likely you'd ever get a book published.
However, you could start on a smaller scale. You could start by taking a few writing classes, for instance. And then you could try writing an essay or article and see if you could get it published in a magazine. At least you might find out if you have any talent for writing.
There are no support groups for the conditions I suffer from, since no other human has likely ever experienced anything even remotely similar to my multifaceted bizarre existence.
My education was what was most severely damaged
Not a soul alive can identify with me, so I suffer alone, hoping someday I will be understood to some degree.
I don't believe the above is true but it sounds like you believe it.
I tend to believe that there is nothing new under the sun. Sure, other people may not have experienced the same specifics you have experienced. However, the outcomes and the feelings you experienced have been felt by other people.
Very few special snowflakes exist.
FYI. You can take all of those cassettes and have them transcribed. It wouldn't even cost that much. Then you can use the transcript to build a book outline.
I don't believe the above is true but it sounds like you believe it.
I tend to believe that there is nothing new under the sun. Sure, other people may not have experienced the same specifics you have experienced. However, the outcomes and the feelings you experienced have been felt by other people.
Very few special snowflakes exist.
FYI. You can take all of those cassettes and have them transcribed. It wouldn't even cost that much. Then you can use the transcript to build a book outline.
I certainly agree that the "outcomes and feelings are quite common. Millions have likely experienced worse.
But the causes of these outcomes and feelings probably have more common elements with which many can identify.
For example, an academic life ruined by chronic alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling addiction, criminal involvement, an accident etc. are somewhat understood my the masses, even by those who have not experienced them.
Yet, I doubt many people, if any, have had their education ruined in the manners that I have.
The above description of my "friend" is only one facet of my ruined academic life, and one that I suspect is very rare, especially considering it went on for seven years.
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