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How to Overcome Excuses to Finish Writing a Book

May 24, 2015 By Shelley Hitz Leave a Comment Click here for a FREE book marketing training

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In this post, I share tips on how to overcome excuses to finish writing a book.  One of the biggest obstacles most authors face is simply getting the first draft done.  In this post, I share an excuse I used this week.

What are your excuses?

I’ve had a lot of people that will say, “Shelley, you seem so driven and goal oriented. How do you do it? Well, I want to tell you I have days where I want to sit on the couch, scroll through Facebook, surf the Internet and just be lazy.

And this week my excuse has been the rain.

I live in Colorado Springs and we’ve had a ton of rain. We try not to complain too much here because we’ve had some pretty horrific fires. We definitely need the rain as we’ve been in a drought.

Yet, I’ve used the rain as an excuse.

So today my legs were feeling stiff and I know it affects my health sitting so much with my job. I knew I just need to get out and walk. I put on my shoes and I went out the door. I also prepared for any rain by wearing my raincoat with a hood.

What’s your excuse today?

It may not be the rain this week.

But, I talk to a lot of people who want to publish a book and they have excuses for not taking that next step.

One of the common excuses I hear for not writing a book is, “I don’t know what to say.” I’m going to ask you, “Have you talked to somebody today?” The truth is, we all have plenty say. It’s simply a matter of getting started.

A lot of times it’s a mental block of feeling like you don’t have anything to say for a BOOK.

  • What about for a journal entry?
  • What about for an email?
  • What about another form of communication? Recording a video?

Do something and get the flow going so that you can get that information out of your head and onto paper so you can help people. The content and information you know will only be able to help people once you get it out of your head. It’s a disservice for you to keep it to yourself.

Another excuse I hear for not writing a book is, “I don’t have the time.”

I get that. When I wrote my first book I was working full time as a physical therapist and part-time as a professional speaker on the weekends and on my vacation. I was busy. I was busy volunteering in our community and our church. However, I still wrote my first book in a year. It took me time, but I gave up watching television and used that time instead to write my book.

There may be something that you have to give up for a season to then be able to accomplish your goal.

What is your excuse today?

Whether it’s your health, relationships, your business, your writing. I encourage you, take the next step.

Acknowledge the excuse but then let it go and say, “I am more than an overcomer.” For me, I say, “I’m more than an overcomer in Christ. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Whatever your affirmation is, do it.

Then take that next step.

What Do You Need to Overcome?

Share with me in the comments what you’re struggling to overcome today and how you overcome your excuses.

And I encourage you today to simply “get out the door and take a walk.”

 

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Filed Under: Writing Tips

About Shelley Hitz

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Together, CJ and Shelley Hitz are passionate about equipping and empowering Christian writers of all genres to share their unique gifts with the world. This website is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matters! Our online community, Christian Book Academy, is where we help you write, self-publish and market your books. We invite you to join our community of Kingdom Writers! 

  
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