Don't pick up people's bricks...

How many times have you said to yourself: I should write a book? And then you confide your idea in someone else and they basically rain on your parade. They tell you things like: Writing a book is hard work. Are you sure you can do it? You don't know how to write. Do you know how difficult it is to get published? Why bother? Or worse, they say something that sounds somewhat supportive but you know they're just humoring you. Ouch! Suddenly that firestorm of enthusiasm you had moments before has been smothered by the bricks of negativity.
Well, I'm here to tell you that you CAN write a book! Of course, I may not know you and you may not know me, but I am familiar with that thrill of excitement at the prospect of writing your first book. And I also know what it feels like to have that enthusiasm crushed by someone's unsupportive comments. So, instead of picking up those heavy bricks and letting them weigh down your enthusiasm, cast them aside and leap upon them. Plant your flag of confidence in the center of that heap and shout to the heavens: I WILL write my book!
Don't let those naysayers distract you from what you believe deep down inside you are capable of. Their voices only reflect their own doubts and lack of self-confidence. Or, they are dinosaurs in their belief that self-publishing is a sign of the amateur. Nonsense! You don't need a degree to write. You simply need to tell a good story. And do so by using the tools you've gleaned from reading all those wonderful books throughout your life.
Self-publishing is the battering ram that breaks down the barrier between you and your right to have your very own published book. You, the writer, are one of many who are lining up to shove that battering ram forward and break down that wall once and for all. And if you think self-publishing can never be as successful as publishing the traditional way, just take a look at all these wonderful authors who started their careers as self-published authors:
John Grisham, James Joyce, Mark Twain, Upton Sinclair, Ezra Pound, Virginia Woolf, Edgar Allan Poe. And most recently, Christopher Paolini, author of Eragon and the Inheritance Cycle. And make sure you read Amanda Hocking's success story. Fed up by all the rejections from traditional publishers she decided to self-publish on Amazon and went on to sell millions of copies of her Trylle Trilogy.
So buck up, and start writing that book!

Till next time, keep reading and writing.