by Alycia W. Morales @AlyciaMorales

You have an idea for a book. Maybe you have several. You want to impact the world with your writing, change lives, and feel like you’ve accomplished something amazing. Am I right?

So why is it that when you sit down to write, your mind fills with all the reasons you can’t write a book?

You don’t have to listen to that negativity. You can change your mindset and get to writing.

Below are 9 negative mindsets that keep many of us from writing. But I won’t stop there. I’m also going to share how you can overcome these mindsets and get that book written.

It’s all been said before.

We know this as, “There’s nothing new under the sun.” Did you know that’s in the Word of God? Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun” (NKJV).

Here’s the thing about that: it hasn’t been done or said by you before. You are unique. Your experiences may be similar to others’, but you have a unique perspective on that experience and the results you had. So, although it’s been done before, it becomes unique to you when you go through it. And that original perspective of yours is what others need to hear.

I don’t have the skills.

Maybe you have dyslexia or ADHD. You failed English? English is your second language? Maybe you can’t spell. There are all kinds of reasons we have that we can or can’t do something.

But with today’s technology, none of those can be used as excuses anymore. There are recording apps and transcription apps and author services out there that can remove all these obstacles. All you need is the will to use them. Stop allowing these things to keep you from pursuing your publishing dream. The skills will develop as you practice.

I don’t have the money.

What do you need money for? A laptop? An app? To pay an editor? Attend a conference?

These are all tools writers use, but none of them are required in order to get your book written. Stephanie Garber wrote her best-selling Caraval series in composition notebooks with pens or pencils. If you truly want to write, you can make it happen. Yes, having a computer is handy, but you don’t need it to get started. Just sit down and write.

Once you’ve sat down and written something in that handy, dandy notebook of yours, you can consider those things that require money. Take a look around you. What can you sell so that you can pursue your dream? Apply for scholarships and grants. There are ways to find money … if you really want it.

I don’t have time.

We all have the same 24 hours in a day. What we do with it is what makes the difference. It all comes down to your priorities. What is the most important to you right now?

Granted, we have responsibilities we must take care of in a day. We have to eat and sleep (and drink water) in order to survive. If we have kids (I raised 6), then we must meet their needs. Day jobs. Pets. Parents. Housework. Bills to pay. They take up a lot of the hours we have in a day.

But then there are the distractions: social media, TV, golf, crafting. What are the things you are doing that you can set aside for a season while you write?

There are also time sucks in our day: waiting in line at the store or at the doctor’s office, taking the train to work, sitting in the car line at school, flying to that conference. Think outside the box. You can use a voice recording app to make notes or even write your book. You can read a book on writing during that time. Take your laptop (or your notebook) on the train or to the car line.

You can find the time if you look for it.

I don’t know where to start.

There is so much information available, and we creatives have so many ideas. It’s easy to see how confusion could set in, bringing with it a wall you want to bang your head against. How do you know what to do with it all?

Take out a notebook or get a piece of poster board or pull up a blank document on your laptop. Braindump. Put it all down. Get it all out. Write down the ideas and information until you have nothing left to suggest to yourself.

Look at all of it and consider three things:
a. What are you most passionate about?
b. What meets a felt need in the world?
c. What could you talk about for the rest of your life?

These are your priorities. Cross everything else off the list and FOCUS.

I’m afraid of what others will think.

One of the things I’ve always struggled with is the fear of what others who are involved in my story will think when they read what I’ve written.

Here’s something to consider: You are telling your story from your perspective. Four people who experienced the same event will have different, personal perspectives on what occurred, what damage may or may not have been done, and the results from that moment in time. One famous example: the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all experienced Jesus and His teachings. Their words line up because they all saw and heard the same thing, but they experienced it from their own perspectives.

Don’t be afraid of your perspective. Or anyone else’s, for that matter. Tell your story. They can tell theirs if they feel the need to do so.

I might offend someone.

We are living in different times. People are more easily offended than they were even twenty years ago.

A lot of people today are offended by truth. Everyone has “my truth.” And whether that “truth” is true or a lie, it’s theirs, and more often than not, you can’t persuade them to believe that there may be another way to see it.
As Christians, we are to concern ourselves with whether or not we are offending God. What we write should tell the truth about Jesus, our faith in Him, and His truth (the Word of God).

Don’t avoid speaking out on “hot button topics” just because you don’t want to offend anyone. Jesus offended many because He spoke His Father’s truth. We are likely to do the same at one point or another.

I’m afraid of failure (or rejection).

Rejection and failure are part of putting yourself out there. Whether you are writing, trying to make a new friend, or any other thing you do during your lifetime. But if we avoid doing things because we’re afraid we’ll be rejected or fail at them, we won’t ever do anything worth doing. What a miserable way to live.

You are valuable. God created you in His image and glory. He also put things in you that He reserved just for you. Things that make you unique, special, and worthy of love and acceptance.

Life isn’t over until it is over. You have a new chance to pick up that pen and notebook or turn on that laptop every morning. Don’t let fear of failure or rejection hold you back anymore. You don’t know that you are going to fail. You may succeed. If you don’t write, you won’t know. And that’s a worse failure than trying and having to keep trying for a season while you seek success.

I’m afraid of success.

Some of us are afraid that if we find success, we won’t know what to do with it. You may have to speak if your book takes off, and you have stage fright. You don’t really manage money well now. What will you do if you end up getting rich from putting yourself out there? How do you find good help when you need a team?

Confession: This is one of my biggest struggles. I’m not afraid of failure. I’m afraid of success.

To overcome this hurdle, as yourself what you’ll be sacrificing if you don’t write the book. How many people’s lives won’t change because you didn’t put your message out there? What will your grandkids do without the inheritance you would have been able to leave them had you written that book? What are you going to sacrifice by succumbing to the fear of success? Or failure, for that matter.

What mindset keeps you from writing your book? I challenge you to change your mindset today. And write that book!

Alycia Morales is a freelance editor and writer. Her writing has been in Thriving Family magazine, Splickety Love, and several compilation books. Her editing clients have won several awards for their manuscripts, including finalist in the Selah Award. Alycia has ghostwritten The Spirit of Hospitality by Larry Stuart and continues to ghostwrite for others. She is currently working on two novels, a YA and a romantic suspense.

Follow Alycia at her blogs, Life.Inspired. and The Write Editing. She can also be found on Instagram and Pinterest. Alycia’s Twitter: @AlyciaMorales.

When she isn’t busy writing, editing, and reading, Alycia enjoys spending time with her husband and four children taking hikes in Upstate SC and NC, creating various crafts, coloring in adult coloring books, and watching crime shows.