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How
I wrote
WOMAN: What She Has Done With Where She Has Been
After
visiting with a friend who was in a troubling situation, I said
to my husband Wade, "You know, I should write a book. I seem
to meet so many women who feel the same entrapment that I once felt. I
need to tell them that they don't have to live that way."
So, I started. I first thought I could do the book it in a year
or thereabouts, but I finished it three years later. I interviewed
each woman then went back to her for more details. Because these
women lead active, professional lives, time was sometimes a problem
and I had to wait for answers to my questions.
There were snags, of course. I taped all the interviews, but
found that transcribing took too much of my time. A friend, Norma
Cafky, came to my assistance and took over the transcriptions. She
was a tremendous help.
I sometimes took a snapshot of the woman I was talking with. When
I worked on that story, I posted the snapshot where I could see
it to help me keep focused on her and her story. When I had a page
of details that needed clarifying, I would shoot off an e-mail or,
in some cases, a snail-mail letter asking what I needed to know.
I didn't like to do these follow-ups by phone because I couldn't
write as fast as the conversation flowed. When I had the stories
in rough draft form, I made a second trip to each woman so she could
read what I had written. I wanted to be sure I understood correctly
and had written what she intended to say.
I consider my role in this project largely one of editor. They lived
the stories, I just put them on paper and edited their words.
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