I would love to write a book
Today’s quote:
“I would love to write a book, but unfortunately, I don’t have a pen.” (Unknown source – it came to me from a Facebook friend)
We might laugh at a saying like this, but for some people, any simple excuse is enough to stop them from writing. Some common excuses are:
- I don’t have enough time.
- The timing is wrong – I’ll wait until I retire.
- I don’t have a good computer.
- I don’t know what to write about.
- I’m too busy.
- I’m too tired after a day at work.
- I have nowhere where I can write.
- I don’t have a pen.
You get the drift?
Excuses. Excuses. Excuses.
If you want to write a book, you actually have to start putting words down on paper – or at least in the hard-drive of your computer. There is no other way. Books will not write themselves. (Someone reading this in my archives in 50 years time might be able to argue that point, but I won’t be around to defend myself.)
So you want to write a book?
Good. Now stop reading this – and start writing (but don’t forget to come back here tomorrow; I’ll be waiting for you).
Good writing.
Related articles:
- Writing a novel – articles outlining how I went about writing a novel.
- A writer’s virtues: patience and persistence
This reminds me of the excuse from the late 1960s.
“I wanted to be a poet, but I couldn’t afford an electric typewriter!”
The typewriter in question would have been an IBM Selectric with a range of font balls and built-in correcting tape. It was the end of handwritten submissions.
I don’t think there are material constraints any more. We are reduced to “a dodgy email connection ate my homework”.
Thanks Ken. How things have changed – and just in our lifetimes. Scary.
the trouble is Trevor I don’t want to write a book. I’m happy writing poems though I am putting together another book of poems. what does one do about that?
You don’t have to write a book, John. A book of poems is entirely a different thing and from what I hear, you seem to be working on writing a poem almost every day. Your steady progress is what is needed, and soon you’ll have a fine portfolio of work to compile.