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Does anybody care? Is this even any good? Why bother, if nobody’s going to read it? What if I never sell this book to a publisher? Read how these questions can be countered with a "draft" mindset.
by Adam G. Fleming
There are two steps to the writing process, drafting and editing. Drafting is all about getting it down on paper. It’s easy to second guess yourself during this phase, and second guessing the first step toward loss of confidence. Loss of confidence, as you may have already experienced, could mean the end of writing. Instead of tapping away at the keyboard, scratching away with your pen, you’re sitting and staring at the blank page, asking yourself,
Does anybody care?
Is this even any good?
Why bother, if nobody’s going to read it?
What if I never sell this book to a publisher?
The list goes on. But I’m here to offer hope, not recycle the questions you may already have running laps in your brain.
One of VVP’s best clients wrote TWO MILLION words. Then, he came to us and said, “I had a lot of fun writing this, but I know it’s kind of boring for other people. Can you help me turn it into a book that people will enjoy reading?”
His approach was spot on. Write the book. Have fun and don’t worry about all those things, and then, entering phase two, you start to ask those questions, and you ask them of a professional, whose job is to give you objective feedback. If it’s not fixable, then you had fun. But everyone’s got some nuggets. So you should have something you can work with.
As for selling it, keeping your aspirations high, and your expectations low. A day job is perfectly acceptable. I’ve been reading Adam Grant’s Original, and he talks a lot about mitigating risk by keeping that day job. In fact, many people who were very successful innovators—and poets or novelists are included– kept their day jobs long after their creative work became financially successful. If you don’t have to worry about whether it sells or not, then you can write what’s fun for you to write.
You can be confident that it will be bad until you edit.
You can be confident that you are writing for fun.
You can be confident that you’ll have food on the table.
You can be confident that a professional editor or proofreader can help you turn your initial mess into a great piece of writing.
We wish you the best!
Victory Vision Publishing is here to help you in several ways: mindset coaching for writers; ghostwriting; editing; proofreading; publishing; and more.
Adam G. Fleming, PCC, is a coach with 16 books and more than 2000 coaching hours under his belt. His focus is in coaching writers along their journey. He is the CEO and lead Ghostwriter of Victory Vision Publishing, Inc.
Book a complimentary consult with him here: https://calendly.com/adamfleming/vvp
