You Can Write a Book

What is keeping you from finally writing a book?  What are your beliefs about your own talents and writing abilities?  What "advice" did you receive from parents, teachers and friends about your book writing goal?  The way you answer these questions for yourself can be the key to your success or failure.  Let's take a look at the story you write about yourself.

Take a moment to think about this statement: If the story you’ve been writing about yourself is that you can’t write, you’re not an author, or writing a book is for smarter people, then you’ve been living out that story up until now. It’s not a true story, but you’ve been living as if it is. 

As a matter of fact, you think you have little to offer to the world of readers. Why would anyone even be remotely interested in reading your book?  Your story is full of hopelessness, and you may have a stack of rejection slips or negative comments from others as proof.

Your high school English teacher may have confirmed your dismal failure as a writer by punctuating your compositions with unhelpful comments penned with red ink.  Getting a composition back with red exclamation marks and circled mistakes never made anyone feel great about writing, never mind provide a tool for improvement.  Do you remember how this made you feel?

If you only knew that your feelings are common. There is not a single writer who has not felt like giving up in despair.  Here are two examples:

1. After Stephen King’s book, Carrie, was rejected 35 times he tossed it in the trash convinced that it was worthless. Fortunately for King fans, his wife, Tabitha, pulled it out of the trash, read it and convinced him not to give up on it. Once accepted for publication, “Carrie” was King’s breakthrough into publishing success.

2. I have had my own experiences with doubt, too! While I was writing my book, "Color Your Life Happy," I was occasionally gripped with a sinking feeling that my book had no place among the 4,000 books on happiness that had been published in 2008. My coach urged me to remember that no matter how many books had been written on that topic, there was someone in the world waiting to read my book the way I was writing it.

To realize your dream of writing a book you must tell a new story about yourself. Your new story must have you starring as a published author. Granted, your main character will have conflict, struggles, and setbacks, but since you are the author you have control over the ending.  Get busy telling yourself the "new" story today!