Disclaimer:
This article is not for fragile egos. Words can hurt.
If in doubt and a double-espresso will brighten your day, keep reading.
If you’re one of us, a thick skinned writer who takes work seriously, this article is for your amusement.
1. Time
Your reason: I don’t have time.
Real reason: You quit before you started. To deceive yourself about being a writer will make you feel good but will leave you empty.
2. Commitment
Your reason: I started, but I didn’t finish yet. Sometimes it is writer’s block. Sometimes it just is.
Real reasons: You’re not seriously devoted to writing. Don’t waste your time. Try something else that could fill the hobby void in your life.
3. Fear
Your reason: I don’t think the market is ready for my ideas.
Real reason: Every time you read a book and you like it as well as feel that you can’t write so well, you get scared. You back down and you quit. Don’t. Keep grinding and learning. You’ll get better. Writing is a skill as well as an output of talent.
4. Efficiency + Planning = Professionalism
Your reason: I just like to let characters take me through the story. Plotting kills creativity.
Real reason: You settle for being a sometimes writer. Nothing wrong with this. Just stop polluting the minds of people that really want to start writing and might hear or even follow your advice. From Greek tragedies to our contemporary times, the way a story was created and transmitted to the reader followed a framework. It’s how the human mind assimilate knowledge. It’s called pattern recognition.
Get off your high horse and back to the basic. Plan, use tools to make your work more efficient, and find the real freedom of writing coming from a structured creative process.
5. Money
Your reason: I don’t see why I should pay an editor. My editing skills are amazing and I aced my creative writing courses in school.
Real reason: You don’t understand what a professional writer is. A ready-to-publish book is a product of at least three people’s work: writer, cover designer, editor. Quality is a prerequisite no matter if you submit to a traditional publishing house or you decide to self-publish.
If you’re not ready to invest in your book and you don’t have money for this, find other ways to trade for services. I know professional writers that are also editors. They edit each other books. Find a way. I know it sounds insensitive, but it’s the hard truth. As you don’t buy unfinished products in your everyday life, nobody wants to pay for your unfinished book either.
6. Talent
Your reason: I don’t know why my editor avoids to be associated with my book (she was specific about not mentioning her in the credits). Also, the feedback I receive from my friends or beta readers is neutral.
Real reason: Maybe you picked the wrong human activity to the best at. We call it lack of talent for simplicity. Sometimes it’s just your resistance to change.
Any of these six reasons could be why you haven’t written or published a best-seller yet. The question is, do you want to do something about it? Will you be able to change, to acknowledge the areas where you need improvement, and work harder?
