Naomi has always wanted to become a book author but she faces some challenges.
She believes that her grammar is ‘poor’ and the ideas she generates are ‘lame.’
So, Naomi decided to forget about becoming an author.
Every day, aspiring authors like Naomi kill their dream of becoming authors because they allow their fear to outgrow their faith.
In this article, I'll review the ten biggest writing challenges aspiring book authors face and how to overcome these challenges.
Let's dive in...
Ten biggest writing challenges aspiring book authors face
Distraction
Generating ideas
Self-confidence
Procrastination
Perfectionism
Over-editing
Impostor syndrome
Inconsistent writing
Finding time to write
Loose feedback loops
Distraction
Life is full of distractions that can derail even the most dedicated writer. Whether it's the lure of social media, household chores, or other commitments, staying focused on writing can be a constant struggle. This is one of the biggest challenges new authors face.
Generating ideas
Aspiring authors often find it hard to come up with a book idea, and this challenge is what impedes their goal of writing a book.
Self-doubt
Many aspiring authors struggle with feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt. They lack confidence in their fiction or nonfiction books. As a result, they allow the idea sprouting in their minds to die a natural death.
Procrastination
Procrastination has a crippling effect that can prevent an aspiring author from reaching their full potential. In addition, it makes aspiring authors rush to complete their books, and the quality of their writing suffers.
Perfectionism
This often goes hand in hand with over-editing, as aspiring authors strive for flawlessness in their writing. They spend time thinking about how perfect they want their books to be instead of writing them. Even when they write something, they second-guess themselves without giving their work a chance.
Over-editing
Many new book authors encounter this challenge during the course of writing. They spend hours rewriting what they’ve written instead of moving forward. They have the mindset that over-editing is necessary and spend too much time doing this. While it's essential to polish your work, excessive editing can stifle creativity and impede progress.
Impostor syndrome
Imposter syndrome is when you feel like you're not as good as others perceive you to be, even though you're actually doing well. This condition often results in people feeling like a ‘’fraud" or ‘’phony" and doubting their abilities. Even accomplished writers have faced imposter syndrome sometimes, but it’s always worse for aspiring authors. They experience imposter syndrome because they don't believe in their abilities.
Consistent writing
What differentiates pro book authors from new ones is consistent writing. Writing consistently is what pro authors do. Many young writers are not consistent because they find it hard to establish a writing routine, set realistic goals, and prioritize their writing time.
Finding time to write
An aspiring author juggling multiple responsibilities and commitments will find it hard to carve out time to write. Experienced book authors know how to create time for all their activities, including writing.
Inadequate feedback
New authors often lack access to quality feedback. This can hinder them from growing and developing into professional book authors.
How to fix your challenges
1. Distraction: To handle distractions as an upcoming author, create a dedicated writing space, set specific writing times, use productivity tools like timers or website blockers, and practice mindfulness techniques for focus.
2. Generating ideas: A good idea is what gives birth to a book. As an aspiring author, you can pick up a variety of ideas from conversations around you, movies, research, social media, etc. In addition, it’s always handy to have a notebook on hand for recording thoughts and observations, engaging in brainstorming exercises, and jotting down inspiration from other forms of art or literature. Most importantly, have an idea bank – an idea bank is your collection of ideas that you save from different sources and people. This helps to keep ideas flowing and acts as a source of inspiration.
3. Self-confidence: As an aspiring author, try to surround yourself with supportive peers or mentors. Celebrate small achievements, challenge negative thoughts about yourself, focus on your own growth instead of comparing yourself to others, and be resilient when faced with setbacks.
4. Procrastination: Identify and address reasons for procrastination, such as excessive social media streaming, fear of failure, or lack of motivation, and cultivate self-discipline through accountability measures. When the writing looks like a mountain, break your tasks into smaller chunks and set achievable goals and deadlines.
5. Perfectionism: To combat perfectionism, you’ve to get rid of unrealistic standards.
Embrace imperfection as part of the creative process and focus on progress rather than perfection.
6. Over-editing: The best practice you can cultivate as an aspiring author is to allow your words to flow freely without editing anything. Not stopping to edit all the time will give you the chance to express yourself without fear or hindrances. You can edit after writing, but keep in mind that it’s not all about perfection; it’s about completing your book.
7. Impostor syndrome: Pro writers also experience imposter syndrome. However, they learn to conquer it by refusing to feel inadequate, letting go of their childhood fears, talking with a mentor, thinking positively, or meditating often. Imposter syndrome is real, but you can learn to overcome it.
8. Consistent writing: Writing is an art, and I always advise young writers to write on LinkedIn, Twitter, and any other social media they regularly use. Prioritize writing text messages over voice notes. In order to become more consistent as an aspiring writer, you have to set clear goals that you want to work towards. Doing this helps to increase your chance of succeeding as a writer.
9. Finding time to write: To make writing part of you, you have to find time to write. There are several ways to go about this. You can cut down your social media streaming time, identify and eliminate time-wasting activities, schedule dedicated writing time, communicate boundaries with others, delegate tasks when possible, and make writing a non-negotiable part of your daily or weekly schedule.
10. Inadequate feedback: Do you want to see yourself flourish as an aspiring book author? Then, seek feedback and get clarity and direction from experts. There are book writing coaches whose responsibility is to guide aspiring authors. If you want to grow, seek their help or get feedback from trusted sources such as beta readers, critique partners, or writing groups. Above all, be open-minded and receptive to constructive criticism. Use feedback as a tool for continuous improvement and refinement of your work.
Let’s wrap up
It’s a known fact that aspiring book authors face many challenges in their journey; however, these challenges should not stop you from following your dream.
Face your challenges head-on; cultivate discipline, resilience, and a growth mindset.
Remember that writing is a process of learning and growing. Every challenge overcome brings you one step closer to achieving your dreams of becoming a successful book author.
Keep writing, keep persevering, keep winning, and above all, keep believing in yourself.
About the Author
Hello there! I'm Bridget Austin, a scriptwriter and content writer.
You can often find me contributing articles on my blog, InkWrit, where I cover various topics related to book writing tips, book marketing strategies, and the art of storytelling.
Feel free to drop by and explore the world of writing with me!
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