is Writing a Book!

It’s estimated that 80% or so of people believe they have a book inside of them.  If they really put their head down and focused they could write and publish a book that would be of value. So why don’t you?

Chances are it boils down to another belief - I’m not a writer.  Even more, I’m not a good writer.  

Sure, you know how to write emails and text messages and have the ability to communicate through written word.  You may be really good at it too.  But the ability to write an email probably doesn’t convince you that you’re a good writer.

How do you get over this hurdle?  How does a non-writer write a book?  Is it even possible?  Does an author have to be a writer?  This question by itself may sound pretty strange.  You may have never even considered that many of the books you see written and published today are done so by authors who would readily admit they’re not writers.

The reason books provide instant credibility and prestige to their authors is because the perceived effort from ordinary people is extremely high.  When you hand your book to someone they envision you slaving away over a typewriter frantically typing away.  They see you writing a rough draft, then a second and a third, and designing the cover and whatever else they think goes into it.

I’d argue what’s keeping most people from writing their book is they have that same perceived effort in their mind.  You value books and respect the work that went into them.  You may value them so much that you shudder at the thought of doing it yourself.

I have a friend who designed his dream home.  He envisioned a swimming pool with an infinity edge and a wrap around porch.  He saw the driveway and even the type of grass his yard would have.  Heck, he could even see the direction of the stripes that his mower would put in the grass when it was cut.

Fast-forward about a year and he had built his dream home.  The vision in his mind became a reality.  We all told him how great his house looked and wondered how he did it.

We wondered that because my friend wasn’t an architect or builder.  He had never studied floor plans and wasn’t an expert on building code.  He worked in the financial industry and spent most of his free time with his wife and three children.

But he had a vision.  He built his house in his mind first and then hired professionals to make it a reality.  Could he have figured out how to build the house on his own?  Absolutely.  He was a hard enough worker and had the intelligence to figure it out.  Yet how long do you think he would have put off the project if he was completely depending on himself to do all the work?

Your book is written in your mind long before it reaches your reader.  You start with a general concept - or Aha! - and build from there.  When you become really serious about it you could sit in front of your computer and start typing away.  Or you could do what my friend did - hire professionals to make it a reality. My friend and his family don’t enjoy their home less because he didn’t build it with his own hands.  They don’t put a disclaimer on their home when showing it off to friends and family.

Not being able to write is not a good enough excuse to withhold your book from your readers.  If homeowners were required to build their home in order to live in it then we’d all be sleeping outside.