Many people, more than 80% of Americans, have the goal of writing a book. If you share the same passion, then it might be your big reason to write a book. However, you might as well have several bad reasons for writing a book, and the bad reasons might leave you angry, discouraged, and even disappointed in the entire process of writing the book.
That said, you might want to check out the following bad reasons to write a book.
Reason # 1: You Believe Writing Is Easy
The first bad reason to write a book is that you believe it will be easy. Most people perceive the notion of becoming a writer or writing a book way easier than running a marathon. There is also the general misbelief that writing is an easy skill and that anyone can do it and become a writer overnight.
Someone might have told you that you are good with words and good at getting your thoughts across. However, you might be good at writing—but how does that translate to being good at storytelling and being able to capture the reader’s attention?
Also, as a novice writer, have you ever told someone about what you are doing only to find them respond that they, too, have always wanted to write and publish a book?
The thing is that people usually don’t have that same reaction if you say something specific, such as becoming a taekwondo champion. Despite what people say about writing and how easy it is to write and publish a book if you were to sit with a professional editor and talk to them about it, they would tell you that working on a book and getting it published involves a lot of deep work. Not to mention that you will have to hone your creative writing skills continuously.
Besides, you will be putting in your energy, effort, and time to see a massive project manifest into success. This aspect perfectly explains why only a small number of people actually succeed at writing a book, as they might be the only ones with the skillset and stamina to do so.
People who believe that writing a book is easy will certainly have a rude awakening when they actually go into the drafting process.
Even if the first draft might come easily, the subsequent phase, which is about developing the story – may not feel quite as easy. This is the simple nature of the book-writing journey, which is why the project of writing a book is definitely not for the faint-hearted.
Reason #2: You Have Money On Your Mind
If you are signing up to become a writer and make tons of money, then you are using your book as a quick way to make a million dollars; however, in this case, writing a book is really not the best way to do that.
You need to understand that the book industry has many writers who are passionately invested in writing books. The underlying reason is that telling and sharing their stories with an audience brings them joy and makes them feel fulfilled.
If you opt for self-publication, you will be responsible for everything; if you are working on a children’s book and you reside in the UK, you might need to hire the best freelance illustrators in the UK, along with a team of marketers to help you advertise your book and spread the word.
Also, when it comes to writing books and making tons of money, then there are, of course, many best-selling high-profile authors who become wealthy or make a great living – however – they don’t make the majority of authors who actually make tons of money from their books.
Many authors have day jobs or even supplement their income with a spouse’s job because it is hard to support yourself on book sales alone. This is true for both conditions, whether you are self-publishing or traditionally publishing.
Simply put – the people who are in the book-writing and publishing business are those who absolutely love writing and sharing their stories, as they aren’t primarily driven by their financial goals.
Reason #3: You Are Looking For Awards
Next on the list, we have the bad reason for being motivated to write a book with the intention of getting awards or prestige. Many people want to check writing a book off their list of goals because they are super attracted to the idea of being an award-winning author. Perhaps they want the badge of being able to say that they are part of the list of New York Times best-selling authors – or – they want to show the world that they have won the National Book Award or the Pulitzer.
Achieving these super-prestigious awards can absolutely be a goal of yours; however, you should never sign up for a book writing project with the expectation that this is going to be the outcome, as this way, you will be setting yourself up for disappointment.
Now, this aspect doesn’t indicate that you cannot win the award or become one of the best-selling authors, as this is possible if you put in the hard work and walk the extra mile to achieve your goal. However, having this aspect as the only goal in mind won’t do you any good. In other words, you shouldn’t solely be driven by the desire to add authority to your name.
So, firstly, you should be passionate about your story or the subject that you want to share with the world. Subsequently, you should be committed to telling your story, irrespective of whether it brings you great recognition or not.
The Takeaway
Now you know the potential bad reasons to start a writing project, including the thought that you might be able to do a better job than someone else. You might have experienced such thoughts yourself when you were reading a book, and you didn’t like the content, which might make you believe that you could rewrite the entire story and outshine the writer. The number one thing that you might want to understand about books is that the reading experience is entirely subjective. So, if you ever decide to write a book, make sure to do it for all the right reasons.
