​“It is not possible to make a mistake.”

That’s what Mona tells John when he arrives on the island in Breakfast of Champions (the Kurt Vonnegut novel).

It’s the customary greeting in her culture when meeting a shy person, she says.

It’s also what I tell people who want to write, but are afraid to start.

*

For some of us, fear is so paralyzing that we don’t do the things we desperately want to do.

For some, that’s writing a book.

Many people are afraid that:

😵 the book they write won’t be good enough
😵 that they’ll mess it up somehow
😵 that they won’t finish.

But there’s no activity more forgiving than writing.

You can always erase. You can always edit. You lose nothing by starting.

*

Is that true? Can you really not make a mistake?

Well, maybe it’s not 100% true, because there is one mistake you can make:

Going in with a limiting mindset.

A limiting writing mindset might look like:

🚫 You believe writing will be easy all the time
🚫 You’re not willing to think about things on a deeper level
🚫 You expect to get it right the first time
🚫 You’re not willing to have your beliefs challenged

If that’s your mindset, you’ll get discouraged upon very quickly and probably stop altogether. You’ll feel grumpy and frustrated and your writing will not radiate with wisdom and hope like it should.

In contrast, a strong writing mindset is one where you’re:

✅ Ready to be challenged in unexpected ways
✅ Open to receive new ideas
✅ Open to rethink old ones
✅ Willing to sit with uncertainty
✅ Willing to work through challenges

When you go in with that kind of mindset, you are setting yourself up to:

🤔 Question your core beliefs
💡 Access new ideas you’ve never considered before
✨ Grow in ways you did not think possible
🤯 Surprise yourself with what you’re capable of.

So.

If you believed—even just for a second—that it wasn’t possible to make a mistake…

…what would you do?

What book would you write?

​If writing a book calls to you, but you’re not sure where to start, consider working with a book coach.

We can offer you guidance, structure, encouragement, creative prompts, and accountability while you write your book.​