Are You Afraid To Get Your Book Written?
March 12, 2008 by Anne Wayman
Filed under Jobs
Are you afraid to get your book written? That’s such a rude question! Yet I find probably one out of every four or five people who contact me about getting a book written are actually so afraid of the project it never happens.
My own experience with fear says that the sooner I face it the better. I suspect the same thing is true when it comes to writing books. If you honestly take a look at your fear and discover what it’s all about, you’re likely to be able to let it go and get your book written.
I’ve written an article called (surprise): Are You Afraid To Get Your Book Written?
What frightens you most about getting a book written?
Write well and often,
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Oh, Anne, you see right through me. I’ve had this great idea for a book for AGES and I’ve even gotten good feedback from a couple of agents and people whose opinions are relevant to the topic, and I STILL can’t bring myself to get past the proposal. I don’t know if it’s fear of failure or fear of success!
Or fear of something else, Kristen… like enough time in your case… but if you’ve got a proposal, why not circulate it?
K… agents? Agents like it? Can they get a bidding war going?
Gee, I don’t know. It’s not really that kind of book. :) See, maybe that’s my problem! I’m scared to believe in it. Hmm…
I think my biggest fear is that I can write a great proposal but when I have to turn it into a book, I won’t be able to pull it off. Don’t get me wrong, I can do it for other people, but what if I don’t have enough to say? What if I have a lot to say and it sucks? It’s a lot less scary to tell someone else’s story than to tell your own, I think.
Hmmmm, let’s see… what’s the worst that can happen… assuming you get a decent deal?
Well… the absolute worst would be not being able to deliver and defaulting on the contract, but I don’t really see that happening because that’s just not a reasonable worst-care scenario. I guess there isn’t really a “worst” here. Good point.
Kristen is right … I vote for the Fear of Success.
Fear of success is usually stronger then the failure parts in my life.
I am not afraid to fail. Matter of fact, I feel I’ve gotten pretty good at it, hehehehehehe.eee
I try to lie to myself and say that “Failure is not a bad thing, it just proof that you tried. Now get up and try again.”
Okay, so it is not so much a lie. It is a pep-talk. One I really do believe in. Most days.
But it is a fear I struggle with a lot.
And Anne the bidding war sounds great and exciting… think we can get them to out-bid each other for Kristen’s idea?
And Kristen… if failure is your issue and you seem not to have a problem getting things done for others (okay, that is a mommy’s constant curse from where I am sitting [me too]) try writing it under a pen name and then you can hide behind that to get it done. Hire yourself.
And before I look too preachy, I do have a story I am sitting on. Writing it is painful, because it is a true story. Here’s the catch… okay there are a couple of catches: 1- I know this book could be written and help others… even if it helps one person it would all be worth the writing; 2- I know how to promote work, I would and do want this book to be a success, but it will bring to light some weakness my children’s mother possessed in her/their past, I don’t want to embarrass them nor make them mentally be drug through that again. Yet I know this manuscript will help others. I have been told so by some in the know. Some who would purchase it so they could use it as a tool of encouragement. So now what?
I have written the first chapter.
And while I have down time at work, like now, I hand write some additional chapters. Although I am not sure where exactly it will go – Chapter 5 or 15… It was a very difficult memory to look at, remember and analyze. But it is written. I think Shannon Michaels will be authoring this book. Even though there will be a note from the author on the last page – a truism prolog of sorts.
kl
Kristen, okay, there’s no worst, now what’s holding you back? Do you need to look further or…
You guys are so awesome. THANK you. I am going to seriously consider moving forward with this project. I may be back for some more encouragement, though… ;)
Come back for encouragement anytime Kristen… you’re pretty awesome yourself… and do let us know how it progresses.