I actually felt there was more name calling and swearing than in your posts here. I only read the free chapters, but if there is that much anger and bitterness throughout the whole book, I don't think anyone is going to be able to sit through and read it all. It just comes across a the rage of a woman scorned.
Yes, the first few chapters do have a lot of bitterness and rage, I actually talk about the bitterness and how much I hated being exactly what I had become... as time goes on, I start to stand but then will get hit again, and again.... Yes, the point to to follow my path to healing.
pivot to a woman who has it all under control, e.g. when you file the divorce papers. There just needs to be a better way to convey the rage you felt without it reading like a stream of consciousness rant that goes on and on like the Energizer bunny.
I understand what you are saying, but I did go through that period for a long time. As the book goes on, I do address how it's frustrating to me that so many people felt I should "get over it" quickly, I preferred to express the reality of how rolling in the depression/anger/self-loathing takes some serious time. Even the stream of consciousness... I did that on purpose, my mental state was in a weird, dark place. Sometimes my hands would be bleeding, and I didn't know how they got that way. I wanted to convey the confusion.
Also, who is the audience for the book? Why should they read this book? What do you want them to take away from the book? What do you want them to learn or feel or do or understand? What's the elevator pitch for this? I think that needs to be conveyed early on or else you are going to lose the reader.
I don't know if this will answer your question, but someone like me would be my reader. When this first happened, all I could find was Jed Diamond, that wasn't me,... or therapists, not me,... even Chump Lady,... she's angry, but I never see understanding that maybe the person who was left isn't ready to let go.
I get my book isn't for everybody, not everybody will like the name-calling and swearing, many won't understand why I was still in love with him after all the abuse,... I got even more questions about that.
I also feel putting the elevator pitch in too early, just wasn't the reality of what happened... It was important to me to keep it real, even if it only sells 3 copies.
Also, is this supposed to be a biography with details changed to protect the parties mentioned? Or would the book actually be more interesting if you fudged the details and made it more like a semi-autobiographical piece?
Nope, no fudging. I struggled if I should put my daughter in the story b/c the outcome in RL might not be pretty but again, it was very important to me to keep it real. The only details that were changed were the names. Other than that, the story was exactly how I remembered it (the early days are still cloudy as I was not in my right mind)
As for editing, if it needs multiple revisions and edits just to get the message right, then yes it would be helpful to have a separate proofreader as the more times one reads something, the harder it becomes to notice the mistakes. You may also want to turn on grammar checking in Microsoft Word as it can catch a lot of mistakes. There's also a program I have seen before once whose name I forget that helps you refine your writing style.
My first writing program that was recommended by several professional writers had zero spelling or grammar check. The idea is to get ideas down without the distraction of formatting and then fix them later.
I will never do that again. I was so distracted with knowing that I spelled something wrong but the program wouldn't fix it,.... ugh.
Anyways, I really appreciate your feedback, I will look into getting a separate proofreader if I ever tackle a task like this again. Definitely, before I print up a paperback. Again, not even to be a big seller but to have on my shelf and say, "I did it."
My Book - He.Never.Said.A.Word
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