Writing Excuses and Real Reasons

I read somewhere that 81% of people say they want to write a
book…and only 1% DO. To me it was really sad discovery. Why? Well
because as I have already told many times before Unread
Story is a Broken Dream!


So what about those 80% of people who want to write a book and
don’t? Why do they give up their dream? Why don’t they write a
book if they want to? All they have to do is sit and write,
right?


WRONG!


Those 80% have their reasons… I have been there too and I think I
know some of the reasons that keep them away from their dream.


They all have stories locked in their soul and messages inside
that stay silent. They all would love to share their stories, but
they can’t. And although it is sad, it can be explained.


Today I decided to make a solo episode about those 80% and try to
explain why they staid where they were while the other tiny 1%
actually wrote their books.


When you talk to them and ask why they don’t write a book if they
would like to, they come up with different reasons.


“I don’t have time”, “I don’t have a good idea”, “I am not ready
yet…” and  then they come up with follow up phrases that are
supposed to make things sound better - “One day I will do it”, “I
will start as soon as I get more free time”, “I am writing it in
my head…”


Now, I know it will sound cruel and many of you might not like
hearing this, but I don’t believe a single word. What I believe
instead is that those are just excuses and the real reasons for
not writing that book are completely different. The real reasons
for not writing are much deeper.


No one  has time - but everyone can make time. Many don’t
have ideas but they can come up with new ideas. And none of us
was ready when we started writing our first books with no clue
how to do it.


After all if 1% can do it the other 80% can do it too…


So what are the real reasons then?


Well I might not know them all but I can tell you the reasons I
had myself a while ago.


The biggest reason was that I was afraid. I was afraid to 
share my writings with others. Putting myself in the vulnerable
situation where strangers could judge me was scary. I was afraid
of criticism and I had fear of failure. I had writers doubts. I
wasn’t sure that my writing was good enough. I wasn’t writing
novels because I was not sure that I could finish them. What if I
do start writing a book and never finish? It would feel like
failure…


The other part was the permission. I had a feeling that someone
had to allow me to write a book. I thought: “Who am I to write a
book?” “What do I know about writing?” “Why should people read
what I write?”… I felt like I was not entitled to become an
author. I thought that my writing should be no more than a hobby.
I was waiting for someone to tell me that I can write.


Only years later I realized that we don’t need permission to be
writers. We don’t need to WANT to be a writer. We don’t need
to decide to BECOME a writer. All we need to do is decide to BE
one.


Going back to the sad statistics again - 81% of people say they
want to write a book…and only 1% DO.