Want to write a book, but worried nobody will read it?

Do you want to write a book, but you’re worried that nobody will read it or that you’re not good enough to write one?

You’re not alone.

This is a really common fear and I hear it all the time.

Beyond writing books, I think it’s a common fear with anything new we want to try where we’re upleveling ourselves… when we’re trying something new and different which is a ‘stretch’ for us. We get a little bit scared and there are lots of reasons for that, as well as different ways to overcome it.

I heard this great quote the other day that fear is always going to be in our life. So we can let it come along for the drive, but it’s always got to be in the back seat and not in the front seat. It can’t be driving, because we still have to drive and make things happen. Fear is like the little voice in our head, the backseat driver, if you will. Don’t listen to it too much or your life will be chaos!

I really love that.

If you’d rather watch a video than read a blog, here it is!

If you want to write a book, the reality is you can write. You write posts on social media all the time, maybe you write blogs… you at least write something and all you need to do is stretch that and develop it a little bit… and suddenly it becomes a book!

Okay, it’s a slightly more involved process, but the important part is that you have the knowledge and ability. You may just need some guidance and new skills. You have the knowledge in your head and the book is simply taking the knowledge from inside you and bringing it out and putting it on paper. Right?

One of the most important things I tell my clients is nobody’s first draft is a best seller. You have to allow yourself to have an imperfect first draft. In the industry, they call it a ‘shitty first draft’. Seriously!

My goal is to get people to the end of the first draft because then you just edit the shit out of it later. You’re going to edit and edit and edit.

You’ll do your own edits – multiple edits – yourself. You can then give your book to beta readers and get them to give you feedback and you edit it again. Then employ a professional editor and edit it again (and again), and then proofread.

It’s going to have multiple rounds of editing before anyone actually sees it. See? No need to stress right now!

The beauty of it is that right now, all you need to do is just get it down on paper. I always tell my clients “Be honest. Go raw, go hard. Just get it down, get it written, and don’t edit as you go. And once it’s written, you can just edit and change and tweak and add things and take things out. Then it will get better and better and better.”

One of the things I do with my clients is give them feedback every week on their writing and say things like, “Look, I would have done this…. I would’ve done that. Can you try this?” (etc) The beauty of coaching is that your writing improves continually throughout the book. But even if you don’t have help, your writing is likely to improve as you continue to do it. Especially if you read a lot.

You can also research some of the tips and tricks of writing and what makes it a great book. The information is out there. You can do it. You just need to edit.

Nobody is immune to the stress and uncertainty of their own writing. I’m guilty of overthinking my own writing. I’m working on a book at the moment and I’ll write something and think, Oh, that’s rubbish! But then I say to myself, Oh my God, Cathryn, this is exactly what you tell people. Just keep writing. Don’t overthink it and worry about it too much in this draft. You know what you’ve got to say. Just get it down.

Allow yourself to be imperfect.

Allow the shitty first draft.

Think about all those people like Elizabeth Gilbert, Rhonda Byrne (who wrote The Secret), Marie Kondo, Danielle LaPorte, Gabrielle Bernstein, Brené Brown… they’re all known through writing their books.

They weren’t known before and they had an idea just like you did.

They didn’t let fear stop them.

And now they’re speaking on stage.

They’re helping millions of people.

They’re making great money!

This is wonderful news because it means those possibilities are out there for you, too. You just need to take that little leap.

Just start and keep going and write a little bit every day. And it will get done.

If you do want to talk to us about your book idea, and getting beautiful support through this whole process, please click on the link below to book an initial chat about your book idea. This isn’t a sales call, but if we both think there’s potential, we’ll arrange another time to chat about the options for working together.

Book a free chat about your book idea

We’re always here to help and look forward to bringing you more tips in future blogs.

Happy writing.

The Change Empire Books coaching team