Deciding on the best time to write your book is a little bit like having a baby. You may believe that the best time to write your book is only when you have enough money, enough experience, and enough to offer to others.
And so, you douse your dreams and dither and delay.
All the Best-Laid Plans
I hadn’t planned on getting pregnant. I was just starting my first job in journalism, I wasn’t making much money, and, well, it just wouldn’t have been when I would plan to become a mother.
Once the terror wore off — that I would be a horrible mother, that I wouldn’t be able to properly care for a baby because everything wasn’t perfectly in place — I accepted that the universe had its own ideas, let myself be thrilled about the unknown, and threw myself into the experience.
Advice from Others
Then came the well-meaning advice from other mothers. This was my first (and only) baby, and I really had no idea what was about to happen. Oh, sure, I knew intellectually what was going on, but I had no frame of reference and couldn’t absorb the advice.
I canvassed my Facebook mother friends on their pre-mother mothering advice and this is a collection.
Every Author and Book are Unique
If I wasn’t pregnant already, the advice I received might have been enough to make me vow not to put myself in a position where I would never again get a full night’s sleep!
But every baby and every parent are different. All relationships and experiences are uniquely individual, just like the experiences of every author and every book. When is the best time to write your book? Only you can decide. But it's unlikely that everything will ever be perfect.
Kick Fear and Insecurity to the Curb
You know all those things other people say, or that the little voices inside your head say, telling you that you’re not ready, you’re not enough, you haven’t accomplished enough, that no one wants to read what you have to say?
That is fear and insecurity talking.
Where did listening to fear and insecurity ever get you? Did it stop you from crossing the road? From learning a new skill? From launching your business?
No.
Photo by Sammie Vasquez on Unsplash
If you’re like ninety per cent of the population that wants to write a book, how are you going to move into the three per cent that actually does it?
How are you going to transform the dream you have about writing a book into reality? Becoming part of the three per cent means deciding that now is the best time to write your book.
It’s All About Deciding
It’s all about deciding. Making the decision to go for it.
And perhaps instead of thinking that your book journey is about you, how about you think about your readers? There are people who want, perhaps need the information that only you can share. Making the decision to give people what they want and need — which is your book —is not about you at all.
It’s about all the readers of your as-yet-unpublished book who are waiting for you…. to decide.
What are you waiting for? Another degree? An award? More experience? Until the kids finish university? Until you’re not so busy? Until it feels like the right time?
Life will always serve up a gazillion reasons to WAIT. If you’re not careful, that wait for the PERFECT time will stretch to eternity and you’ll be on your death bed regretting that you never got around to writing that book.
All you have to do is DECIDE. Decide to conquer the fear. Decide to get your book done THIS YEAR – not for you, but for the people who want and need to read your book. Decide not to let another year slip by before you MAKE IT HAPPEN.
It’s Not About Writing Well
Or maybe the thing that’s stopping you is the fear that you can’t write well enough. It’s not about being able to write well. The authors we choose to work with are the ones who have the biggest gifts to offer the world. Authors who have an authentic message and who live life with integrity.
Writing well may or may not be one of those gifts. We’ve got the editorial and production teams in place to ensure your book is written and published to the highest professional standards.
What we can’t do is help you decide. What we can’t do is create the get-it-done attitude for you to step up and make a difference with your book. And we can’t magically create the message you want to share with the world if it doesn’t already exist within you.
The Best Time to Write Your Book
My son Morgan
It’s like having a baby. It’s NEVER going to feel like the time is right. It’s NEVER going to feel like you have enough money, or that it’s the perfect time in your career. There are ALWAYS going to be a million reasons this is NOT the right time.
On my journey of motherhood what no one could or did articulate was how all the exhaustion and spills and diapers and owies pale in comparison to the big love that comes back from having a baby and raising a child.
As my son was entering adulthood I would hear myself telling other soon-to-be-mothers that there is nothing more challenging nor more rewarding than being a mother and raising a child.
Writing and publishing a book comes close.
If you DO have a message to share, and you DO feel ready to DECIDE, and you ARE ready to step up and make a difference with your book, all you have to do is decide. And begin your submission process by uploading your manuscript or scheduling a free discovery call with us now.
