This would be a five-years-later chapter.
It would talk about how my relationship deepens with my mom. I become friends with the girl who caused my car accident. Then my car catches on fire. But the most important thing is I never went back to self-harm. I finished my degree (by December, that is) and am back to running, even after my car accident.
There are a few problems:
It might give the message that achievement equals healing, a message I don't feel is healthy, especially for people struggling with depression or self-harm.
It could feel like I'm trying to show off accomplishments.
No one is going to finish my book and say, "Wait! What happens five years later!?"
Another issue I realized lately is if I talk about all this in one chapter, there is something missing. These past five years have had their own struggles. It doesn't say anything about my struggle to finish school and the fiasco I had when I moved to Logan, nor does it talk about the challenges I faced as a teacher, or another relationship (or attempt at one) and all its raw challenges. The point is that through all that, I never went back to self-harm. And it would be missed if I tried to gloss over that.
Maybe glossing over the pain of the past five years is exactly what I'm trying to do.
This chapter wouldn't exactly cover that--it's too much. Yet I am still attached to the image of myself running the same 5K that started it all.
On the other hand . . .
I could make it into one of the most interesting "About the Author" pages you ever read.
Or it could be another book.
Cutting Free is too important to be overdone.
What do you think? Please tell me here or on Facebook, either in the post or in a private message.
I would love to read a 5 year later epilogue. Maybe don't look at it so much as bragging about accomplishing great things, but empowering others to see that they too can do great things. We live in an achievement oriented world... Should the focus be on that? Maybe not, but I think you are selling yourself short if you end up writing an epilogue and not including what all happened later. Graduating college is a major accomplishment and one that many might strive to do and when you read a personal story about someone who has done something you want to do, it helps chart their way and reinforce that desire. Not a bad thing IMO. I'm sure the book will be great no matter what though. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Neptune's Daughter! I think using it as an epilogue rather than a final chapter could work. If I mention it at all, whether in an epilogue or About the Author section, I will keep it short and to the point. I am curious about how your own life and writing are going for you. I hope you're doing great!
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