I’ve had people tell me they wrote a book in less than 24 hours, although of course I wouldn’t recommend that. I am also aware of a realistic approach to balancing the time it takes, but Carl Boyd worked with me and finished his book within 60 days.
And then, I’d say factoring in trying to schedule in writing time if you have a full-time job or family to take care of.
I could give you examples that show, no matter how you do it, you DO have time to write a book. Sometime between now and 365 days from now.
The reason you haven’t written a book, clearly has nothing to do with time. There is all the time in the world to write this book.
So what’s the real reason?
You are afraid to write the book.
WRITING A BOOK IS ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING
It’s true, writing a novel is scary. And the reason you are experiencing writer’s block or writing avoidance is because YOU ARE AFRAID TO WRITE THE BOOK.
Fear is a very strong motivator. It also is very good at wearing disguises.
You might read this and shake your head and say, no, no, I’m not afraid to write the book. It’s just I have to take care of my family/walk the dog/go to work/pay the bills/insert-any-reason-or-excuse-here.
The subject of fear is perhaps not the book itself, but you DO have fear in some other place.
Fear most often disguises itself as guilt. If you take 3 hours a week to write the book instead of spending time with the family, you might feel guilty.
The fear in that case is fearing that you aren’t a good spouse/parent/child/sibling/friend.
Maybe you are afraid that no one will read the book when you finish it. Maybe you’re like me and are actually afraid people will read the book once it’s done. After all, we can’t have critics if we don’t have an audience.
If you aren’t writing, but you want to be, it’s a good idea to think about your fears. We’ve just proven there IS time to write that book – and you can do it, once it becomes something you are not afraid to prioritize.
Writing a book also does not have to be any sort of crazy all-for-nothing-all-at-once dash. Balance is key, and as we all know from reading Aesop fables, slow and steady wins the race.
Don’t be scared, write!
MG