There are a bunch of hard things about writing a book.
Finding the discipline to write consistently
Understanding a complex subject deeply enough to write about it simply
Planning a book that will flow and staying true to the vision
Picking the right target readers and tailoring your writing to them
Writing enough to fill a book
Not writing too much
Overcoming self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and other reasons to hesitate
Keeping the innumerable threads from tangling, looping back, or cutting off prematurely
Doubt that in the end it will all be worth it
It’s not an exhaustive list, but it might be enough to give you pause.
More and more, I see would-be authors who start out by looking past the book to what comes after. They’re impatient for the results that will come from being an author. I get that. Pressure comes from all sides to achieve something, people build up an author’s expectations about how many copies they’ll sell, the acclaim they’ll get, and so many other hallmarks of success. But there’s one—a major one—that I don’t hear anyone talking about.
The temptation of all the things that are just past the finish line of authorship make it look like a good idea to do something like ChatGPT your way to a manuscript. Students do it to get their papers done, PhD candidates wonder if they should be doing it. Are you a sucker to do all this work when you could take a little shortcut that everyone else seems to already be taking? I know the answer.
You are a sucker if you use AI to write your book.
It’s not about whether the book will be good. AI could become a brilliant wordsmith and you’d still be a sucker to use it. It’s not about hallucinations. AI could become a perfect and reliable researcher; you’d still be a sucker to use it.
It all comes back to the benefit of authorship that nobody seems to mention. The benefit that comes from doing all the hard stuff. By the time you finish your book you will be a better version of yourself than when you started.
You’ll be the kind of person who can stick to a difficult, long, lonely process and see it through.
You’ll be someone who has thought deeply enough about a topic and the way to relate it to a certain type of person that you can write or speak about it at the drop of a hat.
You’ll be the kind of person who can hold forth, and who knows when to stop.
You’ll have overcome whatever doubts you had about your abilities.
And you’ll know you’ve done all that.
I’d love to start a conversation about this—but not in the comments. Share this post to the social media platform of your choosing, and tell us what you found hardest about writing your book (or what you currently find hardest if you’re in the middle of it). Just imagine working through and watching that hardship turn into a strength.