What it Felt Like When I Finally Told People I Wrote a Book

“Writing a book has always been floating in the back of my mind. Yet, I pushed it off, thinking, someday I will write a book, but not until I am older and considerably wiser.”

-Paul Kotter, Co-Author, Gifted

Every day, there are plenty of people going after big goals in life. Yet, when we do that, it’s sometimes hard to share the news with others. Will others be happy for us? Will they encourage us, or is there a risk to sharing our news? Here’s my story of breaking the news that I wrote a book… perhaps it will encourage you to share your own news more widely as you chase your own big dreams.

In many areas, my life is an open book. (Pun intended!) But when I decided to write my first novel, Gifted, only a handful of people knew what I was up to. (I had my reasons for not sharing, but that’s a story I’ll save for a future post.) Eventually, the book was finished. However, if anyone was ever going to read it, I had no choice but to share the good news. Yikes!

I started testing the waters, and happily I’ve found it a great experience to tell people about this book I’ve written with my co-author, Kim Griffith. Here’s a peek into some of those conversations.

A Typical Conversation When I Tell Someone I’ve Written a Book

I’ve noticed that many of the conversations are very similar, when I break my big exciting news. It’s as if people are reading from a script, “What to say when someone tells you they wrote a book.” Fortunately, I never tire of discussing my book… isn’t that how we feel about the big goals we’ve chased down?

As I have begun to talk about my book, most of the people I tell are supportive. They look at me with admiration, as though I’ve achieved a virtually impossible feat, like climbing Everest. Writing a book can sound daunting, which can make people more curious.

After letting me know how excited they are for me, most people follow up by asking for details. What kind of book is it? How many pages? Is there going to be a sequel?

Next comes a statement often posed as a question, “I didn’t know you wanted to write a book?” To be honest, no one knew. Why, you ask? Because I didn’t tell anyone! I have done a lot of writing in my career and the idea of writing a book has always been floating in the back of my mind. Yet I pushed it off, thinking that someday I will write a book, but not until I am older and considerably wiser.

The last inquiry is the one that really gets me excited. “What led you to write a book?” I’m so passionate about answering this question. The answer is quite simple; I wrote Gifted because I learned something simple that turned my life upside down. And now I want to share it.

Sometimes, if you have a big goal, it may feel difficult to share it with others. It’s normal (and safe) to want to protect that goal at first. I hope for you that when it’s time to share and tell people about your big goal or big achievement, that it’s an incredible moment.

That’s all for now… glad to have you joining us on our journey! What happened when you shared (or didn’t share) your big dream? We’d love to hear about your experience — let us know on social media or in our Facebook Group!

-Paul

Paul Kotter, Co-Author of Gifted

Gifted will be available later this year  – Click here to be first to know when it comes out!