A horribly small percentage of people who start writing finish their books. It’s something like 3%. And of those 3%, only one in five get to the publishing stage.
Most writers know that the initial surge of energy that comes with a great idea can quickly fizzle out, leaving you with a few great pages that get archived and never touched again. And if you were to ask them, they would say they don’t know why. It might be something wrong with them, or fear of failure, or procrastination. Being writers, we can also be pretty creative with our excuses too.
Wherever you are on your writer’s journey, know that this experience is common to most of us. You are not alone!
Getting that book written starts with something entirely not writing related. You need to do a little self-exploration. A great question to start with is: “What can happen if I finish? What could that look like?” and another would be: “What will happen if I don’t finish?”
The answer to that last question is always, “nothing”. Life will carry on exactly as before. Nobody will know (unless you tell them). You won’t face possible bad reader reviews or book failure. And you won’t enjoy possible rave reviews, success, or the satisfaction of typing that last paragraph, or seeing your name in print.
By never trying you don’t risk anything, except the possibility of a different and perhaps better future.
A good first step is then to get clear about why you want to do this. Who will it help? How will it contribute to your self-worth and belief? What are you depriving the world of if you never write it?
The next step is to get a solid writing habit going. Most of us like to overthink every word we type. We agonise over them, go back and reread them, and get angsty if we don’t find instant perfection. If that was going to work, wouldn’t it have helped you write that book already?
So, let’s try something new. Here’s my proven formula to get writing and stay writing:
- Carve out a bit of your time every other day. The best time is first thing in the morning when you are fresh and before decision fatigue sets in.
- Choose the smallest possible period to spend writing. Even 10 or 20 minutes is fine to begin with. The mental trick is that it needs to feel easy to do.
- You can start by just getting the habit going. Find some creative writing prompts and use them to trigger whatever comes, without judgement.
- DO NOT edit anything at this point — just write!
- Build a strong reward into your daily writing habit. The more physical and immediate the better. It can be as simple as your favourite snack food or drink, or allowing yourself a walk or a nap straight after you complete your writing period for the day. Whatever you choose, stick with that specific reward – just for a few weeks. We need consistency to establish the habit. Don’t rely on intrinsic rewards, like satisfaction or the joy of creation. These are not enough to set a habit at first, although they can form a secondary reward as well.
- If you miss a day, don’t get too tough on yourself. That way only lies self-castigation, despair, and demotivation. Allow the occasional slip or break but pick up that pen as soon as possible. We need average consistency, not perfection right now.
- Once the daily writing activity starts feeling easy, or even becomes something you automatically go to do, you know you have set the habit.
- Now, and only now, you can start adding: Extra time, or extra complexity. Add in editing time too.
- Consider at this point writing an overview or outline for your planned book. Think about who it’s for, and what value it will add and why. What meaning does this book have for you.
- A great way to stay on track is with a writer’s vision board – we’ll share a great how-to for that in one of our next blogs.
- Never, ever, try to write and edit at the same time. It uses a different part of your brain and the two clash – analytical with creative.
There is obviously a lot more to becoming a seasoned and acclaimed writer, but just getting that writing habit going is the first, best step.
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Happy writing!
