What's stopping you writing the book you want to write?

How many times have you done what you thought you should rather than what you really wanted?

I can certainly put up my hand to that one. And it hits us as writers too.

Some of my clients want me to write a website for them that they think will impress other people. And more and more I ask them the question:

But is it you?

And when they've thought about it and we've worked on it, we come up often with something completely different from what they first thought of.

It's no different with books. You can't write a successful book, and here I'm not talking only about financially successful books, but ones that connect with people.

In fact you can't write a book at all until you've cleared out of the way what's stopping you writing the book that's in your heart. It might be criticism from others, criticism from yourself or just fear of what will happen if you try it.

Well I don't know what might happen but I do know that trying to write anything other than what's honest and true doesn't work. You won't be happy with the end result and it won't have the effect you want.

At the moment a fellow writer is struggling with this. And the longer he struggles the worse he feels. Only he can do anything about it and it's the same for you.

Stepping off a cliff never appeals. But remember Indiana Jones and your stepping stones will appear for you.