When I’m working with new coaching clients, we start by looking at the kinds of things that they’re not doing, but would like to be doing. And this is when time to write and The Invisible Book often appears.
The Invisible Book is the book you haven’t written yet – you know it exists, but no one else can see it yet. Yet still, you know what it’s about, how the cover will look and how terrible the reviews will be.
Time to write (the lack, thereof) is usually cited as the reason why this book stays invisible and only exists in your head. We all have busy lives, with work, family and dull chores claiming our time. Writing time seems like too much of a luxury and slides down the list of priorities.
On a practical basis, this is easy to address: get up a bit earlier, arrange childcare, turn your back on the sink full of dishes and you’ll have carved out an hour to write.
But the mental blocks are often still there, in that most people in possession of The Invisible Book just can’t justify taking the time out of their lives to write. Since it’s such a luxury, it’s hard to convince ourselves that we deserve it.
But let me tell me tell you one very important fact about this book: it may be invisible, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to disappear.
So if you are one of those people who knows you have a book within you, you might as well get on and write the bugger. It’s not going to go away, it’s just going to piss you off more. The voices of the people you’re going to write about won’t go away, they’ll just get louder and start waking you up at night.
And don’t think that the time you spend in doing so is somehow wasted. Think of how much it pains you not to find time to write now. Once you stop resisting the urge to write, it’s like setting off a rocket under the very arse of your life, and everything is boosted.
Writing is an unstoppable urge – just look at all the blogs out there. Nobody is forcing or paying those people to write, and yet they do it anyway. Having a book within you is a lot like having a child within you – they both need to be born at some point. Only with the book you get to control the labour pains. So why make it tough on yourself?
If you take the time to write, the ripples will spread out like warm water. It might not earn you money or clean your sink, but it will leave you feeling calmer, more fulfilled and happier. Doesn’t that make it worth it?
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