A lot of people will say they want to write a book. 

 As a writer, you’ll hear people tell you that. And there’s that saying – ‘everyone has a book in them’. 

 I’m not going to argue if I think that’s true or not, but that’s not the point. Everyone might have a book in them, and lots of people might want to write a book, but actually writing a book is a whole other matter.

So whether you want to write a book, you’re trying to write one, or maybe you’ve written one and you want to get published, this post is for you.

I’m telling you to stop dreaming and start doing.


We’re a couple of weeks into the new year – long enough to have already forgotten about those resolutions you made but probably won’t keep, but still early enough to want to carpe diem and all that. 

The perfect time to think about where you want to be and what you want to do.

In my Hello 2017 post last week, I talked about how I didn’t do any writing and my blogging all fell to bits because of the grad job I started in September not leaving me any time. (Now, I at least have weekends, if not my weekday evenings. Yay!)

So I sat down the other day and assessed where I am. I looked at what projects I’ve got going on, what projects I want to work on, what WIPs I have stored away on my computer that have potential. I prioritised them, and figured out what I really want to work on this year. That in itself was incredibly motivating.


What are you looking to do this year? Start a book? Finish one? Post it online? Try and get it published?


You might like these Writing Wednesdays posts, in that case:
Work that out first, and then you at least have a goal in mind. Maybe buy yourself a nice notebook for all your writing endeavours, or save a document on your computer called ‘STORY’, even if it’s blank for now. Get something that’s a visible reminder.

So you have your goal in mind now (yay!) and it’s time to stop dreaming. We all fantasise sometimes, all get carried away with daydreams. There’s nothing wrong with that.


But sometimes you’ve got to try and take control. 

 I know that’s not always possible, and sometimes things are out of your hands. But when it comes to writing, that’s down to you. Nobody else is going to write your book for you. Nobody else will bring your characters to life the way you can.

You want to write a book? You’ve got to sit down and write it. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s possible. You want to finish your book? I believe in you – but you have to believe in yourself, too. You want to try and get published? Start looking up literary agents, maybe get your hands on a copy of The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook, have a crack at writing your cover letter.

Nobody said that anything about being a writer is easy. It knocks your confidence to get rejected. It makes you want to give up when you hit a block and feel nothing you write is working. It’s soul destroying when you try and edit your work and think every word on the page is utter shite and you wonder why you ever wasted your time on this.

But you’ll get there. You can get there. You can make your dreams a reality, but you have to work at them. (And I wish you the best of luck in doing so.)