Writing Excuses and Real Reasons - a podcast by Ani Alexander

I read somewhere that 81% of people say they want to write a book…and only 1% DO. To me it was really sad discovery. Why? Well because as I have already told many times before Unread Story is a Broken Dream!

So what about those 80% of people who want to write a book and don’t? Why do they give up their dream? Why don’t they write a book if they want to? All they have to do is sit and write, right?

WRONG!

Those 80% have their reasons… I have been there too and I think I know some of the reasons that keep them away from their dream.

They all have stories locked in their soul and messages inside that stay silent. They all would love to share their stories, but they can’t. And although it is sad, it can be explained.

Today I decided to make a solo episode about those 80% and try to explain why they staid where they were while the other tiny 1% actually wrote their books.

When you talk to them and ask why they don’t write a book if they would like to, they come up with different reasons.

“I don’t have time”, “I don’t have a good idea”, “I am not ready yet…” and  then they come up with follow up phrases that are supposed to make things sound better - “One day I will do it”, “I will start as soon as I get more free time”, “I am writing it in my head…”

Now, I know it will sound cruel and many of you might not like hearing this, but I don’t believe a single word. What I believe instead is that those are just excuses and the real reasons for not writing that book are completely different. The real reasons for not writing are much deeper.

No one  has time - but everyone can make time. Many don’t have ideas but they can come up with new ideas. And none of us was ready when we started writing our first books with no clue how to do it.

After all if 1% can do it the other 80% can do it too…

So what are the real reasons then?

Well I might not know them all but I can tell you the reasons I had myself a while ago.

The biggest reason was that I was afraid. I was afraid to  share my writings with others. Putting myself in the vulnerable situation where strangers could judge me was scary. I was afraid of criticism and I had fear of failure. I had writers doubts. I wasn’t sure that my writing was good enough. I wasn’t writing novels because I was not sure that I could finish them. What if I do start writing a book and never finish? It would feel like failure…

The other part was the permission. I had a feeling that someone had to allow me to write a book. I thought: “Who am I to write a book?” “What do I know about writing?” “Why should people read what I write?”… I felt like I was not entitled to become an author. I thought that my writing should be no more than a hobby. I was waiting for someone to tell me that I can write.

Only years later I realized that we don’t need permission to be writers. We don’t need to WANT to be a writer. We don’t need to decide to BECOME a writer. All we need to do is decide to BE one.

Going back to the sad statistics again - 81% of people say they want to write a book…and only 1% DO.