With seventeen years in this wonderful industry, I’ve met author after author who deeply desires to start, or finish, their book. And as a professional pattern-finder—that’s one of the things we book folks are best at—I’ve noticed a pattern in the aspiring authors who fail.

I know “fail” is a strong word. But when something doesn’t succeed, that’s what it is: a failure.

The good news about writing and life is there are endless opportunities to try again. So if becoming an author is an unrealized dream, here are some common mistakes that will likely keep your book in your head or on your computer—and out of future readers’ hands.

1. Writing without a clear core message.

Even memoir needs a clear message to guide its creation—and its later publication and marketing process. That clear core message should live in every chapter and be the connective tissue from the first to last word. Importantly, that core message often guides platform development, pitches, and decisions about opportunities to say yes to—and those to say a clear no to.

2. Writing for everyone.

When you write to everyone, you write to no one. Authors who set out to be on a program like Super Soul Sunday are likely to end up with either a bloated book that’s written for everyone but useful to no one, or stall out because the lack of clarity makes it impossible to make decisions on scope. Even Stephen King writes for one person: his wife. Picking your “one reader” is especially important if you have a business, brand, or impact mission connected to your book.

3. Starting writing without a road map (outline).

There are some rare birds out there who can “pants” their books—write without an outline—but that’s more common in fiction than non. You, dear future author, need an outline. It will be your lifeline in clarifying the most important elements of your book, and keep you moving forward when you hit roadblocks along your author journey. I meet aspiring authors almost every week who have completed one or two chapters and stalled out— and that’s when they reach out to me for private coaching or group book coaching.

4. Waiting until you have more time.

News flash: It ain’t comin’. We all crave more time. We all need more time. And yet, time is elusive, isn’t it? Like having a baby, there’s never a “right” time. Life is life, and as the naval officer C. Northcote Parkinson wrote in his satirical essay: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” That article, titled “Parkinson’s Law,” became known as Parkinson’s Law—because it’s true.

Write your book when energy and momentum are at their highest and some margin is available in your life. In both private book coaching and group book coaching, I work with authors who lead full, impactful lives—and teach them lifestyle design strategies to write a book that contribute to their business goals and personal mission, without blowing up their lives.

5. Believing motivation and discipline are enough.

The authors I work with, by nature, are incredibly driven and disciplined people. Yet they struggled to finish their books without guidance.

That’s because writing a book is a separate and distinct skill from other writing. The great news is that book writing is a learnable skill. And a great step-by-step system to learn the skill of book writing, integrated with thought partnership and paired with drive and discipline, is the magic needed to get a great book done and out into the world. That magic can be found within my private and group book coaching.

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If you’ve made some—or all—of these mistakes, you’re human. Most of the authors I’ve worked with have made a number of errors along their author journey, so you’re in good company.

And if you’d like support to make your author journey more joyful, easier, and—ultimately—more impactful, that’s where I come in. If you’re considering support for your author journey, I’m here.

Which if these mistakes resonate most with you? Which were you unaware of and can now avoid? Share with me in the comments. I read and reply to every comment and love hearing from you!

P.S. This is a genuinely human article. No AI was used to write this piece.