The career-change pull started because of a need to try something different with in-depth study. . . the research of a thing.
I already wrote and published Still on KDP as I taught full time. Why couldn’t I just write and publish the next book while bringing in a teaching salary?
Research.
I came across a documentary on domestic sex trafficking and couldn’t believe the extent of it here in the USA. I decided to take a closer look at the facts and learned that the average age young people are first coerced into domestic sex trafficking is 12.
12 years old.
That’s the same age as the 7th and 8th graders in my school.
A dark reality? Yes.
An uncomfortable conversation? Yes.
People ask why I would want to write about sad/difficult/scary.
Because sad/difficult/scary happens. Right here in the USA.
And dark themes just get sadder/more difficult/scarier because lack of awareness encourages it to grow. The first step is to understand what is happening so we can learn how to stop it.
In education, we teach the importance of ‘read it again, reflect on it, and use critical thinking skills to integrate new knowledge’. In other words…
Pay Attention!
As I paid attention the research got more and more involved and a story started. After teaching all day, vibrant characters settled into my mind on the drive home, they talked to each other on my 3 mile walks around the neighborhood, and then showed me what was happening as I tried to fall asleep. I woke up at 5 every morning and wrote as much of their story as I could. Then, I’d shower and get ready for work in the classroom. The day started and ended pretty much the same way for years.
Until the sad/difficult/scary needed more to come to life on the pages. I needed more facts. More research. That’s when I knew to say good bye to teaching so I could pay attention.
Something happened when I started writing full time. The characters were set free.
What fueled their conversations, plot, and details so the story grew in my mind?
Research.
I put most of my research on my website blog and something else happened - professionals asked to share their resources with me. My only prerequisite was that they had to offer a free fact-based article that my readers would find helpful. You can see how I organize it at geraldinedonaher.com .
Nuts and bolts of using dark themes in your creative writing?
Fact Based
Interviews
Critical Thinking Skills
Creative Interpretation (with a constant look back to #1 Fact Based)
I’ll take a more in-depth look at each of these points in upcoming posts. If you love to write, are in a profession where dynamic research is expected, or just want to find more information about the creative writing process, subscribe below for the Newsletter. Share with a friend so our collaboration grows. Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!
If you found something unsettling that you want to write about…
Shine a light on it.