There Will Never Be a Better Time to Write Your Book

You want to create something that matters to you—a book. Becoming a writer and author are goals you value and that have deep meaning for you. But you keep telling yourself, “Now is not a good time to start writing. Now is not the right time to publish a book.”

There will never be a better time.

Some new circumstance will always arise and make you feel as if it deserves your attention more than the thing you really want to create, the thing that matters to you most—your career as a writer and author.

Even though what you want to create matters so much, you end up making other things your priority.

How’s that working for you?

You Are Waiting for a Better Time

You are waiting for some new circumstance or condition to arise that makes you believe it’s the right time to create what matters.

Perhaps you are waiting for the kids to grow up, the job to slow down, the savings account to grow, the anxiety to ease, inspiration to arrive, the world to be less crazy and concerning. You are waiting for the conditions to be right—for life to hand you a clean, uncluttered stretch of time in which you can finally do the thing you’ve been meaning, wanting, longing to do—start writing your book.

That time is not coming.

Should You Try to Write Your Book?

There will never be a better or perfect time to devote to your life’s work. And that’s because life is life—relentlessly full, perpetually complicated, and completely indifferent to your creative ambitions. Your inbox will always have a missive that demands your attention. The world will always be in some state of upheaval. There will always be a reason to wait a few more months, another year, or until your busy, unpredictable, chaotic life calms down.

So, the manuscript remains unstarted. The book remains just a good idea.

Knowing that you still have not written and published your book weighs you down a bit more each day. It makes you feel angry, frustrated, defeated, and disappointed in yourself.

Each time you realize more time has passed and you have yet to pursue creating what matters to you, you feel worse about yourself. You lose confidence in your ability to pursue your dream or fulfill your purpose. You may even think it’s not worth trying…after all, there will never be a good time. Plus, you haven’t created it yet; what makes you think you will in the future?

The Myth of the Perfect Time

You’ve likely been sold the myth that there will be a perfect time to do creative work or pursue your passions and purpose. You’ve been told that great success emerges from perfect conditions, like a month away to write your book while living alone in an island bungalow or countryside cottage. You believe you need a sabbatical or a sudden windfall of time, money, and peace.

But look at the lives of people who made things that mattered to themselves and others. They wrote in the margins, like, 30 minutes while riding public transportation or 15 minutes on their lunch hour or while the baby was napping.

They didn’t wait for their circumstances to be perfect. They didn’t let conditions hold them hostage.

Circumstances Can Become Excuses

Circumstances are real, and so are excuses. However, the truth is that you can create despite circumstances…if you stop using them as the reason (excuse) for not writing your book.

Yes, you are busy, tired, overcommitted, overwhelmed, and have responsibilities. The timing is genuinely bad. I’m not dismissing the real weight of a demanding life.

Yet, too often you allow yourself to become a victim of circumstance. You give your power to the conditions of your life. At that point, “I can’t right now” becomes “I can’t.” The excuse becomes the story you tell yourself so often that you stop questioning its validity. You believe there is no way to create what matters.

That’s fear talking.

Circumstances give your avoidance credence. It’s easy to say the job is too demanding, the family needs too much, the season of life is wrong, and all of that may be true. It is also true that people with less time, fewer resources, and greater obstacles have created what matters, including books and careers as authors. Despite their circumstances, they have found a way to create the very thing you keep saying you can’t create…yet. If you want to create a book and writing career, at some point, you have to decide to do so, no matter what life hands you. You have to take your power back from the circumstance and create.

Choose to BE a Creator

What separates people who create what matters from people who say they want to create what matters…but don’t…isn’t talent, time, money, or supportive circumstances. It is who they choose to be—their identity.

A huge difference exists between someone who wants to write and someone who is a writer. The same is true of someone who dreams of having a career as an author and of someone who is an author. The person who has claimed the identity that aligns with what they want to create doesn’t wait for better circumstances or the perfect time. Instead, they take the actions to create what matters.

Why? Because that’s the type of person they are.

You can choose right this moment to be a writer, author, or whatever identity is necessary to create what you value.

Initially, you may need to choose this identity repeatedly. However, when you choose…and commit…to the new identity, your mindset and habits align, making it easier for you to start that manuscript, build an author platform consistently, and publish a book.

You can choose to be someone who refuses to hand your creative power over to circumstance. Or, you can choose to be someone who looks at a challenging circumstance and says, “This is when I create because creating defines who I am. I am a writer. I am an author.”

Victims of circumstance wait to be rescued by better conditions. Powerful creators take action imperfectly, incrementally, and tenaciously. They liberate themselves from their circumstances.

The Perfect Time to Create What Matters—Your Book

You are here, right now, with whatever imperfect circumstances you have. Yet, this is the perfect time to start writing your book or to publish it.

Choose not to let your current circumstances prevent you from doing the necessary work, and you will create what matters to you.

You don’t need more time, energy, money, bandwidth, or whatever you think you lack. You don’t need a perfect time or a better time to get started.

You only need the decision to be a person who creates what matters no matter the circumstances. And you must commit to that identity and to bringing the book into the world now, not later.

That choice…that decision…always results in the perfect time to create what matters to you. In this case, that choice results in you taking the action to start writing or even publishing your book.

Are you waiting for a better time to write your book? Tell me in a comment below. Also, please share this post with a writer who would benefit from reading it.

And if you are looking for an Author Coach to provide you with more time-tested advice, click here.

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Image courtesy of mhyimge.