From False Start to Fresh Start

Although any time is a good time for a fresh start, it seems that the beginning of the year is a logical time to start anew with projects, concepts, dreams, or even your book project. If at this time last year you promised yourself – or made a resolution – that you would write and publish your book in 2012, yet your book remains a confused file of notes and ideas in a Word doc on your computer, you are among the many would-be authors who have acquired what I call False Start Syndrome.

This is the condition by which an aspiring author begins, with great enthusiasm and laser-focused determination, the process of writing a book that s/he has been wanting to write for years ... yes years. For some reason, when authors get the notion to write we don't act on it right away. We ponder, procrastinate, doubt, wonder, and question our initial thoughts about becoming an author. This might occur for several months to several years. All the while we jot down notes, record thoughts, write content, and even create a rough outline for our eventual book. Yet and still, time passes, life goes on, and we never actually get around to writing and publishing the book. If this sounds like you, do not fret; you're not alone. Believe me, I understand what you're feeling.

Just because I coach other people to write, publish, and leverage their books does not mean that writing always comes easily for me or that every idea I have ever had for a book has come to fruition. In fact, I have a manuscript for a fiction novel that I completed in 2005 ... yes, eight years ago. It has never been published. I could recount all of the life interruptions that took priority, the new clients I needed to assist, the exciting projects I wanted to focus on, or any number of more important things that came up over the years that derailed my dream of publishing my novel. Yet I would be fooling myself into believing that these things have been the cause of the book not being published. In fact, the true reason is that I got cold feet. Seriously!

I have questioned whether the story is compelling enough, the writing fluid enough, the characters developed enough, and the dialogue true enough. My False Start Syndrome has taken many forms, including almost publishing my novel with a large independent publisher – who shall remain unnamed – just to get it done. All the while I considered working with this company, I had a feeling that something was not quite right. So, I halted the project, put the manuscript away, and went on with life. Now, that thing is nudging at me again, for what is, I declare, the final time. I'm ready to make it happen.

So I invite all of you would-be authors to take a chance on yourself and your dream. Go from False Start to a Fresh Start in 2013. Join me in making the commitment to publish that book that has been on your heart and mind. Just do it. I promise that the process will not be nearly as scary as you imagine; it never is.

Now is the time to recommit to your dream.

In the comments section below, share your commitment to publish your book in 2013.

_____________________

Anita Paul, known as The Author's Midwife, coaches aspiring authors to write a phenomenal book and helps current authors use their existing books to leverage their business. She is the author of Write Your Life: Create Your Ideal Life and the Book You've Been Wanting to Write, and is the creator of the Write Your Life program, through which she has created a dynamic system to Write Your Book in 90 Days or Less. She has owned The Write Image for 15 years, and has had her freelance articles featured in over 25 publications in the U.S. and Canada. Anita is also the host of "Book Your Success".