Writing prompts for the stories of XLH

Sometimes, when writers get writers' block, they turn to "prompts" to get them started. Usually, once they start writing, they can keep going, and it's just getting over that initial hump that's difficult.

Maybe you're experiencing the same thing. You want to write about your experience with XLH for our book, Weak Bones, Strong Wills, but you can't decide which story or don't know where to start. 

No problem. We've got a few prompts for you. If you're stuck, pick one of them and just write whatever comes to mind. You can always go back and edit it. You might even find that you'll drift off into a totally different topic, and that's good too. 

This isn't remotely a comprehensive list of topics, but perhaps one of them will inspire you:

• What's your earliest memory of treatment? (E.g., Gin remembers, at just-under-three-years-old, getting a shot and learning that it didn't hurt as much if she didn't watch the needle go in.)
• What's your earliest memory of being different and  how did you cope with it?
• Is there a doctor, nurse or other medical professional (or perhaps a teacher or friend?) who made a difference in your life, beyond the treatment itself?
• What would you most like to be different about your life if you could have fixed only one physical thing about yourself (e.g., to be taller or stronger, or to have more energy, better hearing, or fewer dental abscesses), and how would that have changed your life? Would you have answered this question differently at different stages of your life?
• What was it like the day you met someone else with XLH for the first time (particularly for spontaneous cases who don't have family members with XLH)?
• Have you accomplished something that people find surprising because of your diagnosis, and how do you deal with their surprise?
• What's it like to be in a clinical trial as either an adult or a child, and if you've been in them at both age, how were the two experiences the same/different?
• If you have an older/younger family member with XLH, what have you learned from him/her?
  
• How do you explain your condition to other people, and how do they react?

Now, get writing. We're anxious to hear your story! The deadline is October 1, 2016, and the details (submission guidelines) are here: http://vps.xlhnetwork.org/~xlhforum/forum/index.php?topic=226.0