Writing a book is something we've all considered at one point in our lives. Yet most people never do. Here are three myths that prevent people from writing their message to the world.
Myth: You need to be an experienced writer to write a book.
Reality: Anybody can write a book. You just need to have a message.
Many people psych themselves out with this one. When you take a closer look however, it doesn’t make much sense. If you need experience to write a book, then how would anybody ever write a book? The reality is that people who want to write a book will do it anyways, not because they already have experience writing a book, but because they already have experiences they want to write about. Your experiences are your credibility. When you have a message to communicate, it becomes self-evident that you need to tell people about it because you’re communicating your values that have served you well and that you believe will serve others.
Myth: You have to be super smart to write a book.
Reality: Most authors have a team that helps them.
When I hear people say this, I am reminded of what Steve Jobs once said:
Life can be so much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call ‘life’ was made up by people who were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.
Your message is one of, if not, THE most important thing you have. It’s your life’s work. You don’t need to be super smart to have a message. You just have to be wise enough to realize that it is worth communicating to the world.
Myth: You have to be famous to write a book.
Reality: You need a message you believe in.
This is similar to the myth about needing experience to write a book. If only famous people could write books, that means people like Mark Twain, J.K. Rowling, Robert Kiyosaki, and Tim Ferriss would have never written the first sentence of the books they are known for. So why should that stop you? Every single person just mentioned became famous AFTER they wrote the book they're known for.
Each of these myths are excuses we tell ourselves that our message we believe in is not worthy of consideration, yet the reality is that If we don't believe our message is worthy, nobody will. That's why the most important step towards being an author is believing that your message is worth telling in the first place.