Over a decade ago, Publishing Perspective quoted Joseph Epstein as saying that “81% of Americans feel they have a book in them—and should write it.” (1)
That’s an awful lot of people. At the time, it equated to somewhere around 200 million people.
While I couldn’t find current statistics on how many people want to write a book, there is a 2021 study conducted by OnePoll for ThriftBooks that found 55% of the 2000 American participants surveyed believed their life was “worthy of becoming a book or movie.” (2)
Are you one of these people?
Do you think you have a book in you?
Let’s say you do.
Here are some questions for you:
-Have you thought about your idea? -Have you written down your idea? -Have you thought of a storyline? -Have you thought of a main character? -Have you decided on the main character’s conflict? -Will the conflict be internal or external? -Do you know how the story will rise, peak, and fall into a resolution? -Have you plotted it out? -Have you created an outline?
Okay, so you really think you have a book in you that should come out. But you haven’t taken any of the above steps yet.
WHY haven’t you?
Let’s look at some possible reasons:
1. You don’t have the time. 2. You can’t see the whole story. 3. You don’t have the skills to write it. 4. You feel overwhelmed when thinking of trying to write a story. 5. You don’t want to invest the time and effort.
Where do you fall in the above list?
Okay, now let’s assume you did start your story.
-How far did you get?
Not very? WHY?
The OnePoll survey found that only 6% of the participants got halfway through their writing project.
Possible reasons you didn’t finish writing your book:
-Writer’s block. This was the number one barrier to finishing a book. Thirty-three percent fell into this category.
-Lack of inspiration or ideas for following through. Twenty-six percent of the participants fell into this category.
-Can’t get it right or being a writing perfectionist. Sixteen percent fell into this category.
I’ll add three other categories:
-You can’t figure out the ending. This was included in the top tier of reasons and for good reason, endings can be challenging to come up with.
-Overwhelm. It’s just too much to have to think of what comes next. I don’t have statistics, but I’m sure it’s up there. Writing seems easy when just thinking about it, but when putting pen to paper, so to speak, it’s another story.
-Lack of vision. Maybe you started the story, but you can’t see how it moves forward, how the plot will flow.
Now suppose you did finish your book.
I occasionally get manuscripts that are supposedly complete, but they’re not a proper story.
These stories may be: -A series of events -All telling -A hot mess - lacking clarity and direction -Lacking a main character -Lacking proper story structure -Lacking conflict -Lacking a character arc -A combination of the above
No matter what category you fit into, whether you just feel like you have a story in you, or you started a story but left it, or you finished what may or may not be a story, the question now is whether you really want to get that idea, that book, out into the world.
If you do, you will need help. And if it’s a children’s book, I can help.
I’m a working children’s ghostwriter, rewriter, editor, and coach. I can help turn your story into a book you’ll be proud to be the author of, one that’s publishable and marketable.
You can contact me at: kcioffiventrice@gmail.com. Or, you can give me a call at 834---347---6700. (Please leave a message - I'll get back to you as soon as I can.)
Would love your comments!