I know I have said this many times on this blog, but writing a book is hard. What makes it so hard is the time you have to devote to your creative endeavor. Just because writing is my passion it doesn't mean that I don't have times when I doubt myself and wonder if I should continue writing. Then I realize that I would be totally lost without it. Yes, sometimes I have to walk away from my writing for a time, but I always find my way back to it. I was happy to see that I am not the only author who ever felt this way. (Here is a video of a fellow, self-published author who has felt this way at times also).
I have also found that most new writers who have never published anything have a higher doubt of wanting to quit as they go through the process of writing their first book to completion, and then having to continue with fine-tuning, editing, and all the other things a writer has to do to get published. And, if you are planning on self-publishing, then it will be even harder when you aren't sure about all the things you have to do to get published this way, and all the things you have to do after you self-published. Believe me, you have to really have a love for writing in order to deal with all the headache that will follow you around when you are in this process. If writing the book wasn't hard enough, the other part is just as hard.
I have had newbie writers tell me that they have abandoned their writing of a book because they felt it was just too hard, and that in all honesty, they were just plain scared. Yeah, I can relate. There was a time that the thought of publishing something that I had written for the whole world to read was extremely difficult and horrifying. Yes, horrifying! Don't get me wrong, I always wanted to be a published author since third grade and just because self-publishing is a whole lot easier today than when I was younger, it doesn't mean that this made it easier for me. It is one thing when you are writing a book and you love your story, but it is another thing having others read it. Let's face it, not everything you write will appeal to everyone and that is one of the biggest reasons why writing a book is so difficult. There will be people who read your book that will judge and analyze it to death. (Nobody likes to be judged this way, but as writer's we are subjected to this).
I have also talked to newbie writers who have told me that they have actually finished writing their book and have fine-tuned it to perfection, but the thought of taking that next step of either trying to get traditionally published or self-published makes them drag their feet to the point of just taking their manuscript and placing it in a drawer.
Taking that leap of faith in one's ability in anything is difficult, but taking that first step to sharing your story is another. This is usually when I hear a writer say that they decided not to pursue publishing their book at all. Oh, don't get me wrong, they will admit that they did go as far as having a paperback created on createspace.com and sharing it with their family, but this is usually as far as it ever goes.
I chalk all of this up to the PERFECTIONIST WRITER syndrome. If you haven't read my previous article about this you still can HERE! The best advice I can give you if you are dragging your feet, and are just downright scared of publishing your book, is to just keep moving and progressing forward even if you have to take baby steps to get there.
One last thing, don't just publish one book thinking that you will take off to a million dollar career. I have news for you, this rarely, if ever, happens. If you write a book and finish it...GREAT...now write another, and another, and another. Don't stop no matter what because there will be times when you want to, but just remember if you truly love writing then just do it regardless of whether people are buying and reading your book or not!
In my next blog entry, I am going to talk about writing and publishing a book, and why so many people today want to be published authors. Some people write for the love of it. Some write to become rich. Some write because they want to share their story, and some don't really know why if you ask them.
So stay tuned!
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