The Top Ten Excuses For NOT Writing Your Book and How to Overcome Them! by Suzanne Lieurance


Most everyone wants to write a book - some day.

But that's the catch.

Instead of writing it NOW, they plan to write their book some day. Some time in the distant future - because as long as the plan is for the future, it's a nice, safe PLAN.

The trouble is, it isn't EVER more than a plan until you start writing.

So, why haven't you written your book if you've been planning to write one for years now?

Well, here are a few possible reasons. See which ones sound familiar to you.

1. You have no idea HOW to get started. You wonder if you even KNOW enough about your subject to write a complete book.

2. You've collected all sorts of information for your book - notes you've written, quotes from experts, etc. - but now you don't know what to do with it all.

3. You THINK you don't have time to write the book right now since you can't devote large chunks of time to working on it.

4. You're not sure how to structure your book. Should it have sections or chapters? How many chapters should it be? How many pages? Should it include sidebars of information? Charts? Graphs?

5. You don't think you can explain things clearly enough to readers. How do you make your message simple and easy to understand?

6. You can't seem to get motivated to write and then STAY motivated to continue writing. This is particularly true if you've started your book but just can't seem to move forward with it.

7. You have trouble with grammar, punctuation, and maybe even spelling, and you get frustrated when you make so many mistakes.

8. You're not completely sure what a book would do for you - especially if you have to shell out your own money to get it edited, formatted, and published. Why spend money on all that? Will it be worth it?

9. You can't figure out whether you need to write a book proposal and try to find a traditional publisher for your book or write the book and then self-publish it.

10. It all seems so overwhelming when you realize you will also have to market the book once it's written and published. Book signings sound like fun. But you really don't want to have to CALL bookstores yourself to set up these kinds of things.

Any - or ALL - of this sound familiar?

Don't worry. Each of these reasons for NOT writing a book is little more than an excuse for not getting the help you need to move forward with your book. Fortunately, there are ways to overcome each of these excuses.

First, look at local bookstores, or online at amazon.com, for books that outline the book writing process. A great how-to book just might be enough to help you overcome your excuses for not writing your own book.

If you need more help overcoming all the excuses for NOT writing your book, sign up for a book writing course or hire a writing coach to help you.

Finally, if you just CAN'T seem to get your book written yourself, hire a ghostwriter to write the book for you.

The point is, you just need to get your book written, no matter what it takes to overcome all the excuses that are keeping you from getting your book out there on the market.

About the author: Suzanne Lieurance is a fulltime freelance writer, children's author, and The Working Writer's Coach. She is the founder and director of the National Writing for Children Center and host for Book Bites for Kids, a talk show about children's books that airs LIVE on blogtalkradio.com every weekday afternoon at 2:00 CST.

For more tips to get your book written and published, subscribe to Build Your Business Write, a twice weekly newsletter, at http://www.fearlessfreelancewriting.com

Read more articles about the book writing process at http://www.buildyourbusinesswrite.com

Comments

L. Diane Wolfe said…
Just like knowledge isn't power until it's applied! You gotta take action.
April said…
What an excellent post!!