Why You'd Rather Do 100 Other Things Than Write Your Damn Book

Why does doing the dishes, taking out the trash, getting on your socials, and binge-watching Netflix feel easier than the most important things you will do in your life, i.e. writing that book?

Doom scrolling executive dude knows that it takes the same amount of time to look at his Insta as it is to finish a book, but his brain says one thing is easier.

Here's the scenario. A person calls, connects with us, Bloomsday Book Coaching, and we talk about the vision for their book. I ask them simply if they can summarize the takeaway in one sentence, then our talk becomes very murky. Then I offer to help them out with several paths of coaching to clarify the waters and suddenly something happens and their brain wants to retreat from the interaction. Somehow it thinks that the investment is not worth the return and what started as an exciting endeavor turns to a passing thought.

You Need to Publish the Book!

But the problem is that people who come to me are not having a passing conversation about the weather or a hobby. They want to do something important in their lives. If I go to a restaurant and say I'm going to go around to a hundred people there and ask who here has published a book, I would most likely be the only one. This is a quick internet/AI estimate of the numbers but they are closer to the truth than not.

While approximately 81% of the population feels they have a book inside them, the 'author's funnel' is incredibly narrow: industry data suggests only about 3% of aspiring writers ever finish a manuscript, and fewer than 1% of those successfully navigate the traditional publishing path. Consequently, it is estimated that only 0.2% of the general population can claim the title of a published author.

But what is it about people who want to write a book? I don't have to break it to them, but I do anyway, that the likelihood is very small that they will have a NY Times bestseller on their hands. So the real motivation is that something is in you that has to be given birth. Something is missing in your life until you achieve this one task.

Yes, I've heard pitches by many people of very bad ideas. One drunken woman told me she wanted to publish something about wine and sex before heading with her friends to have a few more drinks. I still gave her the time to humor her idea, clinking my cocktail glass onto hers. But the majority of folks who come to us really want their work out there, but don't want to make the investment of time and money.

You Need a Clear Route

But the reality is that if they turn their backs and we never hear from them again, they will still tinker with the idea. They will spend their time on ChatGPT to look up how to publish their book and the AI will give them a string of things that initially motivates them and then continue to give them strings of things that will drain their motivation just as quickly:

"Would you like me to draft up ten publishers you can pitch the idea to because I know you won't type an email to one of them today because you don't even have the motivation to finish even one paragraph of your own book?"

This is how things start with ChatGPT and then this is how things devolve. You know the slop.

So the mind, when it is not clear, will resort to doing something else: to going back to work, to saying "yes" to hanging out with friends again tonight, to doing the dishes in a sink that never ceases to receive dishes, thinking it is quietly judging you.

But the true problem is that the person somehow sees that engagement with a book coach as an obstacle to their publishing dreams. It is like saying that your gym trainer will not get you to the desired weight and figure you want, and that you can get the same training on YouTube.

Perhaps you can and that means you will spend time, which is even a more valuable resource than money. But somehow your brain thinks you're an immortal vampire that has all the time in the world, which is not true, unless you are. The main reason a person makes all the effort to fill out a query form and connect with us in the first place is that something needs to be done. In other words, this is what you want! They would rather do this than go to the dentist or schedule a health checkup!

Do This if You Need Motivation

Go to your computer, type out only one paragraph regarding a topic about your book. Make those 5 to 7 sentences very intentional and stop there. It will take you exactly 5 minutes. See how easy that was? Those instructions are clear, and you can offer very little excuses to say "no" to this task. Do this everyday until the book is done. No more, no less.

But if it was difficult for you to do this, then the problem is not the instructions, but it has to do with the clarity of the book. Here is another easy path. Find someone who can help you get your work out there in the world so that you can realize something about yourself and your capabilities through your work. If it's not our team, find someone you can trust. Then see that your time is more valuable making the money to pay this person than trying to figure out an easier path, because none exists.

Finally, when you meet a random guy at a restaurant who asks you, "Have you published anything?" You can say, "I'm glad you asked."

If you are serious, I mean very serious, about finishing your manuscript, then reach out to us here and we'll be happy to help.

Sources

(The 81% Stat): Joseph Epstein, "Think You Have a Book in You? Think Again," The New York Times, September 28, 2002. (Reporting on the Jenkins Group Survey).

(The Completion/Publishing Stats): WordsRated (2023 Publishing Statistics) and Bowker ISBN Report data, which tracks the ratio of manuscripts to published titles annually.

The Write Practice (2022 Analysis), which aggregates the "3% completion" industry benchmark.