Have you been trying to write a book for years, but keep finding yourself getting lost in the process or being unable to stir up the motivation to deliver a final product? If so, you’re far from the only one.
In fact, only 3% of the aspiring authors who start writing a book end up actually finishing it. Among that 3%, just 20% of the authors manage to publish the content they’ve put countless hours of thought and effort into.
In other words, if 1000 people start writing – only 30 of them finish the book and just 6 of them end up publishing it. Pretty surprising, right?
If you’re one of the 994 who don’t finish the book, here are a few reasons why.
1. You’re Unclear About The Book’s Purpose
If you’re unclear about the reason why you want to write your book, it’ll be exceedingly difficult to put pen to paper. Having a main idea to focus on is crucial in terms of productivity. It’ll be all too easy to veer off course if you’re constantly spinning in circles and trying to select your best ideas as you go along.
Before you start writing your book, ask yourself which question it’s meant to answer or which problem it’s meant to solve. What value will it bring to your readers? How will you translate your knowledge into words that others can read and appreciate?
We all remember being taught how to write essays in high school or college – the main takeaway from them was to center your work on a thesis. Make sure you have a clear, solid thesis statement to base your book on and the rest will fall into place!
2. You’re Not Sure About Who Your Audience Is
If you’re not sure who your audience will be prior to writing your book, it’ll be difficult to come up with content ideas tailored towards them. Without a specific niche of readers in mind, it’s more than likely that you’ll have a hard time narrowing down your ideas into a single book.
In order to figure out who your audience is, consider creating your ideal reader avatar prior to the writing process. Narrow down your reader by demographic, interest, field or age and then cater your book to them. Coming up with a reader avatar will help ensure that you’re talking to one person and not everyone, which would make it difficult to formulate your thesis statement as mentioned earlier in this post.
Learn what your target readers are interested in, what they’re hoping to learn and which problems they need solved, then write your book accordingly!
3. You Don’t Have A Structured Roadmap For The Book
It’s crucial to have a clear idea of your topic and an organized table of contents before setting out to write your book. Think of your topic and table of contents as the anchor in the whole process. If you’re starting to feel overwhelmed by all of the information you want to share or lost in terms of direction, you can always fall back on your two anchors.
In order to create your table of contents, sit down and perform a brain dump of all the ideas you have. Let everything out, no matter how vague or messy it may all be, then gradually streamline your thoughts until you’ve come up with an organized direction for the book. You can always edit as you go along, but at least you’ll have a roadmap to fall back on if you start to veer off course.
4. You Aren’t Being Held Accountable For Writing The Book
As much as we might like to think otherwise, we all tend to function better on a deadline. If you’re not being held accountable for writing your book, life will easily get in the way. It’s too convenient to put off writing until tomorrow, or the day after, or the weekend when you don’t have a clear timeline to adhere to. That procrastination quickly snowballs and before you know it, months will go by before you finish your next paragraph!
If you’re the only person who knows about your project, it’ll be difficult to accomplish it. Consider enlisting the help of an accountability partner to keep you on track as you, in turn, help them stick to their goals. Alternatively, making a public announcement about the book to your audience (if you have one) or your friends on Facebook is a great way to be held accountable and give you that extra push to finish it.
5. You Don’t Have A Writing Schedule In Place
The key to finish writing your book is routine, routine, routine! Put yourself on a writing schedule and stick to it. Even if you’re only putting in a couple of hours a week, consistently keeping up with writing will eventually have you producing a book. Recognize when you’re the most productive and when you’re able to work without any distractions. Declutter your desk if the mess takes away your focus, or listen to music if you work better with background noise. Most importantly, avoid browsing the Internet while you write! It’s the quickest way to veer off your productivity course.
If you’re hoping to write a book but have been searching for the motivation to do so, consider joining our 7 Day Book Kickstart challenge! A rocket consumes maximum fuel during its launch, and book writing requires a similar level of focus and clarity during the first initial phase.
Give yourself an advantage by participating in this seven day challenge. Every day for the next 7 days, you’ll be receiving a short video from our founder Jyotsna to help guide you through finding your purpose, selecting your book topic, creating a structured table of contents, tailoring your writing techniques and learning about hacks to ensure you publish your book within the next 60 days.
