When I talk to people about writing a book, the responses are pretty evenly split between:
“I’ve been meaning to get around to writing a book.”
And
“I could never write a book.”
(And, of course, there are a few people who have already achieved author status!)
Both responses tell me that there is an interest, but something is holding them back. It’s either lack of time or lack of knowledge.
The second group sometimes think it’s lack of writing skill – but that’s not a barrier, that’s what editors, or even ghost writers, are for!
Lack of time
Have you ever heard of Parkinson’s Law?
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”
The reverse applies too – if you only have limited time available, you often become much more efficient at getting things done. Alan Lakein, the time management theorist, suggests a number of strategies to get things done. Prioritising, scheduling, breaking big tasks down into smaller ones – he even wrote a book about it How to Get Control of Your Time & Life back in 1984 – and these strategies still work!
If you really want to write a book, the secret of success is to make a series of appointments with yourself to block time out in your diary so you can work on it. If someone wants an appointment with you, you can legitimately say “I’m sorry, I’m already booked at that time …” and offer an alternative time. No client will demand you cancel another appointment in their favour! (If they do, maybe question if that’s a good relationship).
Lack of knowledge
I have actually had business owners say “I’m not clever/smart enough to write a book”. They think they’re not an expert – but they’re running a successful business, so they definitely have knowledge.
Part of the problem is a belief that ‘everyone knows’ what you do. They don’t! What is commonplace to you, is rocket science to someone who doesn’t have your level of expertise or years of experience. And that’s valuable information.
Think about the questions your clients ask, and how grateful they are when you can give them information that is of value to them. There’s the content for a book.
Lack of writing skill
We’re not talking about penning an epic novel here! If you write a blog regularly, you’ve probably got enough skill to expand that into a book.
Even if you really aren’t a writer, that doesn’t mean you don’t have valuable information to share. People have turned video courses into books – because they’re comfortable talking to camera, but not writing that information down. You could always record MP3s – there is software available to transcribe audio files (or even video files) into text.
Of course, the result will need editing, but it’s an easier way to get your book started than sitting in front of a blank screen.
And there are lots of ways to make the writing process easier too.
If you think your author is ready to emerge, why don’t we have a chat?
