At nearly every one of my book signings, at least one reader will say to me, “I’ve always wanted to write a book, but I just haven’t gotten around to it.” 

They say it like the dream still lingers, but the belief in it is long gone. That haunts me a little because I know the magic writing a book can bring. 

I’m not talking about notoriety or bestseller lists. I mean the way the simple act of writing—particularly writing a story—changes you in the best of ways.

But I also know why so many people never get there, because I almost didn’t myself.

THE DREAM CAN BE ELUSIVE

I started writing novels in 2000 but didn’t get my first publishing contract until 2013. For over a decade, I stood at the edge of my dream, wondering if I had what it took to actually make it come true.

For years, I didn’t think I did. When my breakthrough finally came, it felt like a miracle. But looking back, I realize that it was the result of a lot of hard work and blind desire.

Most people never write the book they want to write because something stops them before they even start.

Many aren’t serious about writing a book. The idea sounds cool until they actually try to sit down and do it. Others fear they’re not good enough. 

Writing a book is a slow, solitary act of courage. It’s dozens, even hundreds, of hours spent showing up when no one’s watching and nothing’s guaranteed. 

It asks you to sit down, not once, but dozens, even hundreds of times, and to keep going long after the initial spark fades. That kind of consistency is hard to cultivate in a world that constantly pulls our attention away.

And then there are those who feel too vulnerable to even start because writing a book—especially if it’s drawn from your own life experience—can feel like laying your soul bare. You put your thoughts and emotions on the page, and the very idea that someone might misunderstand or reject them is enough to make many would-be authors retreat into silence.

I get all of that. But here’s what I want to say to anyone who’s ever whispered, “I’ve always wanted to write a book.”

NO MATTER HOW OLD YOU ARE, DO IT ANYWAY

Many successful writers didn’t publish their first book until they reached their senior years. 

Frank McCourt didn’t publish his Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, “Angela’s Ashes,” until he was 66 years old. Raymond Chandler released his first novel, “The Big Sleep”—one of Time magazine’s top 100 novels—at 51. Harriet Doerr was 73 when she wrote “Stones for Ibarra,” which won the National Book Award for First Fiction. 

I’m not suggesting you write your book to win awards or to show the world how talented you are.

I’m encouraging you to write because something inside you has been asking for it and because writing—even if no one else ever reads it—will change you.

I’ve found writing to be healing. Psychologists often use expressive writing to help people work through trauma and improve their mental health.

It clarifies your beliefs, enhances your thinking and enables you to reflect more deeply on life. It draws your true self up to the surface. 

Writing is a practice of truth-telling, self-connection and discovery. It will make you braver—not just on the page but in your life. Writing demands a lot from you, but it gives back in equal measure gifts you won’t find anywhere else—gifts that, because they’re unwrapped inside you, remain with you forever.

DON’T LET THE DREAM FADE

The world is full of things that demand our time and energy. To write a book, you have to make it a priority. 

Your writing is one thing in your life that belongs wholly to you. Your story is yours alone to tell.

You can wait for the fear to fade, or until you have “time,” or until you have the confidence, but do that and your dream is certain to die with you. 

If you have a little voice inside you wanting to write your story, maybe it’s time you listened. Write a few sentences. See where it takes you. Do a little bit each day for a week, and you may notice some of the benefits I’ve been talking about. 

At my next book signing, odds are, one reader will tell me how they’ve long wanted to write a book. I’ll smile and encourage them, but if the past is any indicator, I’ll know by the look in their eyes that they’ll never go after that dream.

This year, you know what I’d love to hear? Someone telling me, “I just started writing my book, and I can’t wait to see how it’s going to turn out.” 

Will you be that person?