Before telling someone, “You should write a book,” be sure you know what you are encouraging them to do.
If you are the one told to write, I am sure you quickly discovered that it wasn’t as easy as you were led to believe. And you either just put the suggestion on the back burner or took a lot of time to learn about how things work and then proceeded with your eyes wide open.
If you are the one going around encouraging others to write a book, be sure the advice comes from an informed perspective unless, of course, you use “You should write a book” as a default encouragement to anyone and everyone.
If you are the former, be prepared to guide and mentor the prospective writer, leading them step-by-step, making introductions, alerting them to the challenges that all authors experience, and making a long-term commitment to seeing this through together.
If you are the person who casually uses writing a book as generic encouragement, please stop. Here’s what you are really saying:
I think you should set aside most of what else you are doing to devote yourself to writing for little or no money. Maybe quit your job, downsize your living arrangements, and stop doing hobbies or other activities that make you happy. Trust me, upending your life will be well worth it.
Okay, I am likely overstating things a bit to make a point, but not by much. Suggesting that someone should write a book encourages them to take up a risky, all-encompassing task, not a hobby like scrapbooking. If you want to give everyone generic advice, make it “Take a walk on a sunny day.”
Seriously, why would anyone suggest to a close friend, or even a casual acquaintance, to enter a complicated, highly competitive public arena where disappointment, failure, and criticism are key components? It is difficult and not for the faint of heart. Instead, it sounds like something you would recommend to someone you weren’t particularly fond of.
If you want to encourage someone who shows potential in the writing field, try these actions instead (in order):
- Buy them a blank journal and a nice pen, and encourage them to write something every day.
- Ask them to write some short, 250-word devotions for the church newsletter.
- Accompany them to a writers group.
- Be on the lookout on their behalf for opportunities to write short-form material.
- Buy them a copy of the 2025 Christian Writers Market Guide.
- Suggest blogs and newsletters to subscribe to.
- Accompany them to a writers conference, introducing them around.
Once you complete these seven steps, keep doing some or all of them in no particular order. These are not items on a checklist to accomplish once. These are elements that are built into one’s life as permanent features. The initial run-through might take as short as three years but likely much longer.
So, next time you say, “You should write a book,” remember what you are really suggesting. And if the target of your encouragement takes you up on the suggestion, be prepared to walk alongside them for a long time.
You know, like someone probably did for you.
