Hi, I just found this forum after searching the net, I have decidied I want to write a non-fiction book for young peole who have experienced cancer not as a sufferer but as a child or friend. I was motivated to write this book as both my parents have had cancer and I recently lost a close friend and I wanted to write a book of how just because you haven't been diagnosed with cancer doesn't mean it doesn't change your life forever. I want to explore the different emotions involved with the process and dispell myths around someone close to you having cancer. I am unsure of how to go about the book and I also realise there are alot of books out there like this, so am I barking up the wrong tree?? I would just like some idea of a direction to start in and to know wht others think of my idea!
Try it and see how you approach it. When someone in the family is ill, or you are ill yourself often reading everything you can get your hands on can be a way of dealing with the situation and trying to understand it. There can't be enough literature. Good luck with it.
You shouldn't limit yourself to books dealing with solely cancer. There are loads of good books out there that deal with death or loss of a loved one, but it might take a different form: car crash, hazing gone wrong, being sent off to die in war, etc. The details are different but many of the emotions are the same, and could prove quite useful to you. I'm very sorry about your friend who passed on. I hope your parents win their cancer struggle and are able to live full lives.
This is not necessarily an answer to your question but definitely relates: Read A Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It is a wonderful, wonderful book about teenagers dealing with cancer. A very sad read, but the characters are amazing -- sophisticated, witty, and kind as they try to understand their unfair fates and the nature of life and death. Good luck with your book. Georgia
