When people ask me what I do for a living and I tell them that I’m a writer and I publish books, guess what they always tell me…

“Oh, I’m going to write a book someday.”

Yep. Everyone, it seems, has a book in them.

But very few people actually take that leap and write a book.

And if you’re one of those people who say/think they’re going to write a book one day, let me share with you why I think it’s never going to happen.

 

Someday never comes…

Treating your ‘potential book’ as a pipedream/fantasy/ a leisurely treat when you have more time translates as it’s never going to happen.

How can you change this? Start planning… it’s as simple as that.  Decide on when you’re going to start and get on with it.

 

You don’t have time to write your book…

If you’re ready to write your book, you won’t just magically find some free time in your diary.  You need to make time.

How can you change this? Well, you can start by adding hourly slots into your diary every day.  Protect that time with your life. Don’t give it up for anyone and those book ideas and plans will escalate and start to form.

 

You don’t treat writing your book as a priority…

If you put everything else at the top of your priority list and leave your book at the bottom, then I’m sorry to tell you but it is not going to get written.

So what can you do to change this? First of all, re-read 1 and 2 above.  Then think about cutting back on your schedule for a month or so.  Spend the majority of your days writing your book and fit in your client work/your job/your other commitments around that.

 

You have no idea where to start / what to write about…

You might love the idea of writing a book but if you don’t take it seriously, and you just start writing without any clear plan or objective, you’re never going to finish writing.

So what can you do to change this? Research… what are your competitors doing? What are you an expert in? Where does your passion lie? What can you talk about without coming up for air? Make a list of everything you COULD write about and start brainstorming from there.

 

You have no one to be accountable to….

Without accountability, you’re just going to be able to pretend you never decided to write your book anyway, because no one will even know you’ve gone back on your word.  But that’s not going to do you any favours, is it?

How can you change this? Tell your nearest and dearest, your family, your friends, your colleagues, your VA, your coach. Just tell a handful of people, tell them when you’re starting to work on it and when you are going to get it finished and then you’ll feel much more compelled to keep going.  After all, you don’t want to be a quitter, do you?

 

So, what’s it going to be? Are you going to embrace the idea of writing your book and make it a priority?

I hope so. There’s nothing quite like that feeling of finishing your first draft.

Good luck!

Michelle

Self-Publishing Services UK