If you haven’t starting writing your first book yet, you should ask yourself why not. One of the greatest reasons people don’t do things is because of fear of failure. This, unfortunately, comes from school . In school, we were punished when we failed, and therefore we have that residual fear of failing, fear that we will be ridiculed. That is a fear that you will have to get over. Face it right at the beginning, realise that there are thousands, no hundreds of thousands, of people who have failed, and they have stood up and tried again. So firstly, get over your fear of failure. What is failure in the writing world? With Indie publishing, it is almost non-existent. As long as your book is at least well edited and proof read, it doesn’t matter how bad the story it, you can still get published. And then, when nobody is watching, you can write your next book, which might be a best seller. Another reason is being distracted. That is why I wrote the piece on finding a space where you can work. Make sure you get away from the family, the phone and the dog, so that you can concentrate. Once you have settled into your working space, you’ve got that clean piece of paper in front of you, (just joking, I know you’re looking at a computer screen!), and you sit there looking at the screen with not a thought of what the first sentence in your book is going to be, it’s going to be time to deal with the plot. Maybe you have one, maybe not. It doesn’t matter. If you cannot think of how to start the book, then start by not writing the book. Instead, write down the plot, create the characters, write down where the story will take place. While doing all of this, the story will start forming in your mind, and pretty soon you will find yourself thinking up things that happen in your book. THEN start writing those scenes down, and later you can form them into a book. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t put it off until tomorrow. That is the surest way to make sure your book never gets written. Do it NOW! The last thing I want to write about today is dealing with competition. That is where you say to yourself “I will never be as good as SK”. Well, so what? If everybody stopped doing what they were doing right now, at this moment, because they were not the best at what they were doing, the world would come to a standstill. You’re not the best driver, but you still drive a car. You’re not the best cook in the world, but you still put food on the table for the family. You’re not the best gardener, your garden has never won an award, yet you love pottering around on a Saturday. Well, you may not be the best writer, but you can enjoy writing as much as anybody else, as much as you love cooking and gardening. What I’m trying to say here, is that you must deal with your fears, and don’t let them get the better of you. Now stop using this blog as a reason to procrastinate, close your web browser, open your word processor and start writing!
One of the greatest reasons people don’t do things is because of fear of failure. This, unfortunately, comes from school . In school, we were punished when we failed, and therefore we have that residual fear of failing, fear that we will be ridiculed. That is a fear that you will have to get over. Face it right at the beginning, realise that there are thousands, no hundreds of thousands, of people who have failed, and they have stood up and tried again. So firstly, get over your fear of failure.
What is failure in the writing world? With Indie publishing, it is almost non-existent. As long as your book is at least well edited and proof read, it doesn’t matter how bad the story it, you can still get published. And then, when nobody is watching, you can write your next book, which might be a best seller.
Another reason is being distracted. That is why I wrote the piece on finding a space where you can work. Make sure you get away from the family, the phone and the dog, so that you can concentrate.
Once you have settled into your working space, you’ve got that clean piece of paper in front of you, (just joking, I know you’re looking at a computer screen!), and you sit there looking at the screen with not a thought of what the first sentence in your book is going to be, it’s going to be time to deal with the plot. Maybe you have one, maybe not. It doesn’t matter. If you cannot think of how to start the book, then start by not writing the book. Instead, write down the plot, create the characters, write down where the story will take place. While doing all of this, the story will start forming in your mind, and pretty soon you will find yourself thinking up things that happen in your book. THEN start writing those scenes down, and later you can form them into a book.
Don’t procrastinate. Don’t put it off until tomorrow. That is the surest way to make sure your book never gets written. Do it NOW!
The last thing I want to write about today is dealing with competition. That is where you say to yourself “I will never be as good as SK”.
Well, so what? If everybody stopped doing what they were doing right now, at this moment, because they were not the best at what they were doing, the world would come to a standstill. You’re not the best driver, but you still drive a car. You’re not the best cook in the world, but you still put food on the table for the family. You’re not the best gardener, your garden has never won an award, yet you love pottering around on a Saturday. Well, you may not be the best writer, but you can enjoy writing as much as anybody else, as much as you love cooking and gardening.
What I’m trying to say here, is that you must deal with your fears, and don’t let them get the better of you. Now stop using this blog as a reason to procrastinate, close your web browser, open your word processor and start writing!