End of an era …
Ever since I first conceived the idea of writing a series of novels set in the world of medical ethics back in the early 1990s, I’ve collected information on potential topics in paper files. Anything that might help to inform or inspire or authenticate, in it went.
Dilemmas worthy of a book of their own included …
ORGAN DONATION AND RETENTION
ABORTION
ASSISTED DYING
FACTITIOUS DISORDER IMPOSED ON ANOTHER
ASSISTED CONCEPTION
ANOREXIA
GENETIC INHERITANCE
INFORMED CONSENT
GENDER DYSPHORIA …. and so on.
Some ran into two bulging files; others barely opened the spines of the folder. And the total width extended over the years to 20 inches of paper!
But the time has come to empty the drawers of my filing cabinet and accept the passing of an era. Because, of course, digital recording gradually overtook manual. Plus my own plans for future novels shrank. I’m retaining one fat folder on one last topic which I haven’t entirely ruled out for a last novel, but otherwise into the recycling bin they go.
I’ve had to psyche myself up to this radical clear out, but when it came to actually binning them it was surprisingly painless. And after all, the raw material has contributed to eleven published books; it has done its job.
A fresh new start for the next phase of life!
Who needs proofreaders?! The power of storytelling