Only YOU Can Prevent This

When J.K. Rowling finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, she was a single mom writing in Edinburgh cafés because her flat was too cold to heat. She didn’t have a literary agent, a platform, or a plan—just a story she couldn’t stop writing.

When Bloomsbury finally said yes, her editor told her NOT to quit her day job. 

“Children’s books don’t make money.”

Rowling shrugged, packed up her manuscript, and kept doing the thing anyway. (We all know how that turned out.)

Stephen King threw Carrie in the trash.

Literally.

He wrote a few pages, decided it was terrible, and pitched them in the trash. His wife, Tabitha, fished them out, read them, and said, “You’ve got something here.”
 

King finished it—and the book that launched his career.

He wasn’t confident. He wasn’t sure. But he did the thing anyway.

When Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love became a global phenomenon, people started asking her for the secret to success. Her answer?

“I wrote for years before anyone cared. I got up early, wrote before work, and collected rejection letters like confetti. The only magic trick I know is persistence.”
 

No fancy inspiration, no secret ritual—just showing up and doing the thing.

If you’ve ever said, “I’m just getting ready to write,” welcome to the world’s largest club—the Almost Authors Association. Membership is free, but it costs you your dream.

READ. THAT. AGAIN!

The Only Thing That’s Doing the Thing… Is Doing the Thing

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, writes his 3-2-1 weekly email newsletter—and it consistently hits the ball out of the ballpark. In a recent email, he quoted a person named Loopy who wrote:

Preparing to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Scheduling time to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Reading about how to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
The only thing that is doing the thing… is doing the thing.

When it comes to writing and publishing, most people stagnate in the “getting ready” phase. We polish our outlines, research agents, join writers groups, and tweak the same opening paragraph for months. We’re busy—but not productive.

And that’s the trap.

Let’s talk about what keeps smart, capable people from actually finishing their books—and how to finally do the thing.

Let’s go!

Six Insights to Overcome the Delusion That You're Writing...

When You're Not 

Trust me, I know these well...

1. Perfectionism Is Just Fear Behind a Mask

You tell yourself you can’t start until you have the perfect idea, or the perfect outline, or the perfect opening line. But perfectionism isn’t about standards—it’s about safety.

If you never start, you can’t fail. You can keep your dream pure and untouched. But perfectionism kills creativity faster than a bad Amazon review.

Do the thing anyway.
 

Write badly. Write devoid of any organization. Write the scene or chapter that makes no sense. Then fix it later. Every great book you love started as a sloppy copy someone had the courage to finish.

2. “Research” Is a Sneaky Form of Procrastination

I mastered this practice. 

Writers love research. It feels productive. You can spend hours reading about 18th-century shipbuilding, or the mating rituals of Norwegian puffins, or the history of publishing in the postwar era.

And yes, some of it might end up in your book. But most of it? Mental Netflix.

You don’t need to know everything before you begin. Research as you go. Your book doesn’t need to be a doctoral dissertation—it needs to be written.

So close the extra tabs, seal up those Facebook Reels rabbit holes (my weakness), and put those fingers on the keyboard.

3. Accountability Without Action Is Still Avoidance

Joining a writers group, hiring a coach, or announcing your book on Facebook can be great for motivation—but only if you follow through.

Posting, “I’m writing a memoir!” isn’t the same as writing it. Neither is scheduling time to write, or telling people you’re going to write. Those are steps toward doing the thing, but they’re not the thing itself.

Something in our brains convinces us that by writing about writing that book, we’re actually doing it. But we aren’t!

Pro tip: If your writing habits look good on paper but your page count hasn’t changed, you’re still preparing—not producing.

4. The Brain Loves Motion, Not Progress

Your brain rewards motion. Buying a new notebook, organizing your writing desk, designing a mock book cover—it all gives you a little dopamine hit that feels like progress.

But progress only happens when words appear on the page.

Want to know how bestselling authors actually finish? They sit down and write—consistently, even when they don’t feel like it.

As author Jodi Picoult says, “You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank one.”

So, so true!!

The trick isn’t to feel inspired before writing. The trick is to write until you feel inspired.

5. Your Book Won’t Change Anyone’s Life—Until You Finish It

Maybe you’re not just writing for fun. Maybe your book carries a message that matters—something that could help someone else find healing, hope, or meaning.

But your unwritten book can’t do any of that.

It can’t comfort, teach, or inspire. It can’t reach the people who need to read it.

Every day you delay is another day your words stay locked inside you instead of out in the world doing good.

That’s why publishing isn’t just a business decision. It’s an act of service.

When you publish, you give your ideas permission to matter.

6. The Secret of Finishing: Lower the Bar and Raise the Habit

Here’s a trick that works better than any motivational quote: make your daily goal laughably small.

Don’t aim for a chapter a day. Aim for five minutes. Tell yourself you can stop after five minutes—but nine times out of ten, you won’t. Momentum kicks in, and before you know it, you’ve written for an hour.

Small, consistent effort beats heroic spurts every time.

As they say, “slow and steady wins the race.”

James Clear says,

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

Build a system that makes writing automatic—and your book will finish itself.

Stop Waiting for the Clouds to Part

Here’s the truth: there will never be a “perfect time” to write your book.

Life will always be messy. The kids will always need something. The phone will always buzz. The world will always be too noisy.

So stop waiting for permission, the muse, or divine intervention. You don’t need them.

YOU. JUST. NEED. TO. START.

One page. One paragraph. One sentence.

Do the thing.

And if you’ve been spinning your wheels trying to figure out how to actually publish, let’s talk.

I’ve helped hundreds of authors go from “I’m thinking about it” to “I’m holding my book in my hands.”

Let’s make that happen for you.

👉 Schedule an appointment with me today by clicking below. 

Let's bring your book to life!