Anyone fancy a collaboration?

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

OK, I've finally started writing my book! But then had a super-brainwave.

What if... not only were it written as a pregnancy diary (very loosely based on my own) BUT it had a day-to-day "what's happening with your foetus" spot on it.

So, for example, we'd have

13w 1d
Congratulations! You're now in the second trimester. Your morning sickness may start to subside and your baby is starting to develop whatever it is the baby develops now...

30th July
Had a scan today - was told off for leaving the 12w scan late but what can you do when you're on holiday?...


Then we'd have maybe a blank space for the woman buying it to add her own notes.

So... would anyone want to do the foetal development bit? Because I'm not that up on human embryology.

Or would this be a real turn-off of a book? Would you prefer it just to be a non-diarised novel? What would YOU buy and read? (And no, you haven't read it if you read my journal; there are some CRACKING bits I'm adding, including the husband trying to get the baby, if she's a girl, to be named ZX4 after his first car.)

[briggsy's girl]

i would probably write the book you're wanting to write, and maybe have an associated preg diary, rather than having it within the book itself. i think it would be too confusing to be reading fiction, and then have your own notes inside it - would prefer to have it seperate kwim?

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

So would you prefer reading a novel or a diary with a "what's happening" bit in it too then?

[Aimz]

IMO I think you should stick to one or the other i.e. fact or fiction.

Personally i would want to read the novel/diary part more than the factual bits. Another woman's view and experience would be more interesting to me.

[briggsy's girl]

ditto what sarah said - i think i'd find it frustrating to go from one to the other. you could incorporate factual information on growth of bub into the journal as part of discussion between person and doc if you wanted to i guess..

[suse]

:yeahthat:

What BG said - there are many ways that you could incorporate the factual stuff directly into the narrative if you want to include it. Doctor/protagonist conversations, research undertaken by the protagonist, etc. As long as it is part of the narrative flow it will be readable.

Although, if you are writing it in the format of a pregnancy diary in the first person, then with appropriate typography your idea could work. If the 'what's happening section' is actually part of the narrative, and the character responds to it, then it will flow as if the character is simply writing in a pre-purchased pregnancy diary. Eg:

'13wks - your morning sickness may subside by now. Your baby is the size of your little finger... etc. etc.

30th July
Not bloody likely. Still chucking my guts up morning noon and night. For something the size of my little finger it sure knows how to make me feel sick as a dog. It amazes me that I haven't starved it (or myself) to death with all of this vomiting, but my midwife says that [insert more factual stuff here]'... etc. etc.

Or something like that.

But I wouldn't incorporate something that the reader can fill in into the narrative, it will be too disruptive and would feel like a text book. It could be included at the back of the book, but publishers may not go for the idea (publishers don't like putting in blank pages if they can possibly help it).

So, do we get to proof-read for you?