According to recent surveys shared at the Book Expo of America, around 90% of Americans would like to write a book yet very few get to, despite the convenience of self publishing. Why is this?
Before publishing my book, I had talked about writing one for years. As a matter of fact, I wrote two full notebooks on two different topics, plenty of digital notes, then I destroyed every thing because I thought they were not worth publishing. What a waste.
Self-publishing has made the process of publishing a book accessible to anyone with some content. Of course, that’s not the end of the work – getting people to buy your book is the other half the equation. The
Fear of not being Good Enough
The number one reason for most of us to get discouraged is this negative little voice telling us “I can’t do it,” “I am not capable enough to write a book,” “no one would want to read my story,” “I have nothing intelligent to say,” “my story has been told before”… so on and so forth.
It was the same for me. My fear of not being good enough prevented me from publishing earlier in my life. English is not my first language and I have never taken a writing course in my life. But there were enough experiences inside of me that finally, I leaped.
When I attended the Hay House writer’s workshop, author Nancy Levin was telling her story of how she destroyed all her poems because she thought they were not good enough. It helped me see that I was not alone. I made the decision right then and there to publish through Balboa, a division of Hay House.
Are you like me, feeling that you have a message or a story within you waiting to be told yet your little negative inner voice is preventing you from telling it? If so, it is time to jump. All you have to do is acknowledge this little voice, thank it and move forward with your writing journey knowing that all of us are in the same boat. You can tell your little voice that you will deal with it later. Your intention is to enjoy the journey.
The Fear of Writing
Many of you have heard horror stories about how difficult it is to write a book. Don’t believe all that you hear: it was my first book with no prior experience in professional writing, editing or publishing, particularly not in English. And yet my editor completed editing my 400 pages in 4 days, and I had the time of my life during the process. How was that possible?
Once I asked my little voice to be quiet during my writing, I stopped judging what I wrote and forgot about the reader, the editor and the publisher. I started writing for myself. I went on a journey of creativity and self-indulgence. I abandoned all my thoughts and relished in the pleasures of expressing whatever came to my mind. I stopped caring about the “how” and immersed myself in the creativity of the moment and what needed to flow through me. I gave myself a “carte blanche” of originality and inspiration.The truth is … (1)
Whenever this fear of writing emerged, I stopped, recognized it, thanked it and continued to write any way. Even when I wrote the most nonsense paragraph or page, I decided to continue writing every day. It did not have to be more than fifteen minutes but I got into the habit of opening my word document and writing in it daily. More often than not I surprised myself writing for long hours when I intended to spend only a few minutes; I enjoyed unleashing my self-expression. I can safely say that I had the time of my life when my creative juices started flowing as if I was dancing with something I had forever longed for …
I also realized that editing was a different beast. I edited my content at different times, when I was listening to music or having downtime watching a mindless movie. But I did not edit as I wrote — they were very different mindsets.
Based on the many stories I see on my social media pages, I realize we are all sharing personal stories, opinions, thoughts and much more. We are all writing and not afraid of it. It simply takes the same skill to write a book. So, change your mindset and have fun with it!
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To read the full article on Balboa Press, please click here: blog.balboapress.com/the-three-fears-that-stop-you-from-writing
