Trying to write a book? Well I hope you’re not committing any of the writing sins on this list as long as my leg. And I trust you’ve remembered the 762 different secrets that only actual proper writers who write good and do well know.
And how many books have you read this month so far? Is it 80? If not, why not? Are you even serious about this?
You should probably be getting up at 5am, as well, by the way. Maybe 3am. You know what, it’s easier to just stop sleeping. That way you know you’re up early enough.
Oh, and if you don’t have a system, you’re screwed. Without a system, you won’t ever be able to meet the daily output requirement of one Medium article, ten tweets, one newsletter, a SubStack, two vlogs, a blog post, seven Tik Toks and an hour spent engaging with the community, and all the other things you absolutely have to do if you want to be an author.
To be honest, the best thing the do would be to stop writing the book. Writing the book is taking up valuable time and energy that you could (should) be putting into all the other aspects of being an author.
If a tree falls in the woods and you don’t write an article about the profound realisation around writing that hearing it squash a hedgehog gave you, are you actually trying to be a writer? Do you really want it?
‘Do it my way, or not at all’
Too many options. Too many rules. To be an aspiring author these days is to tread a path of eggshells, razorblades, mines, and people saying ‘You’re treading on eggshells WRONG. Here’s what you should be doing.’
Sometimes, you just gotta write the damn book.
Why?
Because you want to. Remember that bit? At some point you probably went ‘I’d like to write a book’. Or, if you’re like me, you got bored doing what you were supposed to be doing and just started writing something. It turned out to be a book. I was as surprised as anyone. It was like opening a Kinder Egg and finding an accordion.
But unless you’re the kind of person who’s giving writing novels a try because they think it’s an easy way to make money (LOL. Give me five minutes to stop laughing. Oh god my sides hurt.), you’re doing this because you’re passionate. Telling stories is something that you simply must do.
Doing it because you love it, not to be successful
For myself, and I suspect most writers, financial success is desirable simply because it would enable me to devote more of my time and attention to what I love doing the most. That’s the same reason most people try and pursue their passion as a career. Money isn’t a reward, it’s a facilitator.
I mean, sure, I’d love to splash out on a kick-ass gaming PC and a shoe rack full of Cuban heels, but still.
It’s very easy, though, to kill that passion with words like ‘should’, ‘must’, and ‘don’t’.
If you’re super excited about an idea, but then you start worrying that you don’t have a well-defined idea of who your target audience is, what are you likely to do? Throw yourself into the project with abandon, or feel like you should be doing something else, like research?
Writing rights and wrongs
It’s not that the idea of understanding your audience is a bad one. It’s great advice. Similarly it’s not that there aren’t ways you can become a better writer. There are for everyone.
The issue is that we communicate these things as though they’re gospel, and as though the worst thing you could possibly do is create without all the stuff I listed at the start of this article.
Five minutes of scrolling writing advice on places like Medium or Youtube and you’ll feel worthless, talentless, and question why you’re even trying. There seems to be a mountain of stuff you have to do before you can even think about actually writing the damn book.
Which is funny, because there are plenty of articles online on how to beat procrastination, stop making excuses, show up and do the work. Yet sometimes the same people are feeding your fear of getting started by undermining any belief that you have everything you need to get going.
Stop killing your passions
Passion is the thing that makes great art. Most of the articles I’ve read talk about forcing it. That consistency is the goal, that the aim is to throw out so much stuff that, statistically speaking, it’s impossible not to be good sometimes.
But when it comes to writing novels, the thing that will really keep you coming back over and over again in most cases, as the word count creeps higher, is the drive to tell a story.
My humble suggestion (because you don’t need another person ordering you around) is: protect that drive at all costs. Make changes that will help you grow and develop as a writer, sure, but never at the expense of dampening your drive.
One of the biggest reasons I haven’t made more progress towards my goal of becoming a published author in the last 20 years (I started when I was 13) is because I sabotaged myself with perfectionistic thinking.
I’m still in the process of relearning to simply love what I’m doing. Everything else is just a bonus.
If you can avoid getting into that state, you’ll be far happier and more fulfilled because of it.
