1. You don’t have a big idea.
Writing a book can be super fun, but it’s also challenging.
You need a big idea to ground your thoughts and give your reader something to sink her teeth into. You gotta go somewhere with every anecdote, visual, and scenario, otherwise what’s the point? Nobody wants to read something and be like, “What??!!”
Don’t be that author who flops because every other buyer wants a refund. Identify your big idea, know exactly who it’s for, and be sure it’s something they really care about. Your book should rock their world, not bore them to tears.
2. You have a big idea, but you’re stalling.
If you’ve ever said, “I’ll write my book when . . . .”, this is for you!
There’s no perfect time to write your book.
“But, Otiti, you don’t know my life! I gotta . . . .! I’m super busy! I . . . .”
Imma say it again:
There is no perfect time to write your book.
Life happens. The people we love die. We move countries, or start families, or build businesses and make a million mistakes. Life. Happens.
If your book means enough to you, you gotta fight for it. You gotta prioritise it over your comfort. You gotta choose to get the words out on paper every single day ’cause it ain’t gonna happen any other way.
Do you have time to binge Netflix? Go out every weekend? Tap the heart button on a couple hundred IG captions every day?
Then you have time to write a book.
Get on it.
3. You think you can’t write a whole book.
Your book doesn’t have to be 100K words. It doesn’t have to be 50K words. It doesn’t even have to be a conventional book (but it does need a powerful, coherent big idea).
Maybe you’ll write a 30-day devotional for single women healing from depression, or a book of essays on self-love as a superpower for creativity, or a poetry collection celebrating Black culture.
You don’t start out aiming for a specific word count. You start out to make a difference, change a life, and share what you know.
You brave the blank page because you want to heal, inspire, educate, and transform us. You want us to feel seen, heard, loved, and supported.
You want to awaken our sense of wonder and what’s possible for us so we feel better, brighter, stronger, and bold enough to dare anything.
Write a word that grows into a sentence, a paragraph, a page, a chapter, a book.
Pace yourself to tell the story that needs to be told and trust that you’ll know when you’re done.
Focus on making on real impact, not hitting some random word count just to feed your ego.
4. You don’t have the right community, tools, and support.
Sometimes the blank page is a virgin space brimming with potential and your ideas are flowing so fast, you’re juuust able to keep up. You’re riding high, rocking your groove, and feeling invincible ’cause you got this!
Other times it’s a black hole that sucks you in and wipes out your brain. Your ideas suck. Your writing sucks. Your life sucks. You stuff your face with cookies and scroll on Facebook for 5 hours ’cause you definitely don’t got this.
Welcome to the wonderful world of writing!
It’s sooo easy to buckle when you don’t know what to look for, how to deal with it, and how to keep going even when you’re 30 seconds away from hurling your laptop at the wall.
You gotta have the right people and systems holding you up ’cause nobody flourishes in a vacuum.
Read books. WRITE EVERY DAY. Go to workshops, retreats, conferences, and whatever else you can attend.
Take a few courses or classes that offer robust feedback. Get a writing coach to hold you accountable, streamline the process, and keep you on your toes.
Do. The. Work.
What you don’t know can keep you in a rut for 10 years. What you learn can unblock you in 10 minutes and shave a few years off your growing curve.
Whether you’re dreaming up a 20-book fantasy saga or a vegan cookbook with yummy meals so simple even a twelve-year-old can make them, you gotta build your stamina right or you’ll never get where you wanna be.
5. You don’t write every day.
Listen, unless you’re a sparkly unicorn who burps glitter and perfect books in her sleep, you gotta practise often enough to discover your best words. You can’t only write whenever you feel like it and expect to pull off a great book whenever you want.
The best writers may be many things, but they’re not indisciplined. They show up, master their craft, and pump out the bestsellers we can’t get enough of.
You don’t have to write like them (or even be like them), but you do have to show up and master your craft so you can write your own bestsellers.
There’re no shortcuts. What’re you waiting on?
If you’ve ever wanted to write a book that delights, moves, and empowers another human, then it’s your responsibility to make it happen.
Maybe you’ll knock it out in 90 days or less. Maybe you’ll spend a year or even longer crafting the thrilling, myth-shattering masterpiece that sparks the next revolution in clean energy. Maybe you’ll discover a whole new calling waiting for you on the other side.
I don’t know what it’ll look like for you, but I do know that you gotta brave it or you’ll never know what it looks likes either. And it’d be a tragedy if you die never knowing because you never tried.
Your book’s not gonna write itself. Do the prep work now so you can enjoy the finished product later.
So get your head in the game.
Because crafting a book should feel joyful and exhilarating, not depressing and overwhelming.
Photo credit: Shots by Priiincesss
Thank you Radiant coach, this powerful piece makes it seem possible. 😘😘
Yaaay, I’m so happy! You’re welcome! 😀
Thank you Otiti.. wonderful and very pushing hahaha.. will definitely get my pen and run the journey amen.
Bonganiiiii! HI! You’re welcome! Can’t wait to witness what you write! 😀
And thank you for commenting. I appreciate it! 😀