Can a normal person write a book?

I was researching for ideas for today’s blog post. In various writing communities I frequent on the internet, I’ve been seeing an uptick in posts about fear, and I wanted to bring that discussion to this space. And because I’m learning how to be a business owner (a whole different ballgame from being an editor), I looked into SEO terms around writing and fear—and in my scroll through Google search results I found this question.

Can a normal person write a book?

What a simple thought, a humble question. I stopped my scrolling and stared at this question populated by algorithmic search engines. I imagined the kind of person who would type this question into the search bar.

Can a normal person write a book?

She’s the grocery store clerk who lost her retirement and had to go back to work to make ends meet. He’s the political volunteer going around handing out flyers to people who don’t really want them but are too polite to say no thank you. They’re the person who offers to take my cart back at Costco while I focus on getting my toddler buckled into his car seat.

These normal people are the ones I see in the school pickup line, next to me on the church pews, passing me on the walking trail, hiding in a corner on the transit train hoping that no one can see them cry.

Can they write a book? Can these living, breathing, loving, normal humans write a book?

Can a normal person write a book?

I see another question underneath this Google search, one that goes a little deeper, maybe hits a little closer to your heart. Maybe the person who sends this query into the void phrases it this way because saying what they really mean would be revealing a little too much of themselves. When someone asks Can a normal person write a book? what they’re actually saying is Would anyone really care about what I have to say?

Think about your favorite stories, fiction or nonfiction. What books are the ones that have stayed with you? Books that come to the top of my mind are East of Eden, The Girl Who Drank the Moon, A Place for Us, Tell Me More. Think about the people who wrote those books. What if they stopped themselves from writing because they were afraid that no one would care? What if they felt that pull in the innermost part of their hearts and stopped just short of chapter one because their fear got the best of them.

Imagine what we’d miss. Imagine what we’d lose and not even know we lost it.

Now imagine yourself. What would the world lose if you didn’t share your story? What would we miss? What reader is out there, right now, waiting for your words and your story? What reader needs your story to feel seen and understood and a little less alone in the world? Because I can guarantee that somewhere in this world, there is a reader waiting for you.

Can a normal person write a book?

Writers are normal. You are normal. Writers are people. You are a person. We are all people living and doing and dreaming. We all carry stories, stories just waiting to leap out and connect us to each other. It doesn’t matter if writing comes instinctually, as a part of how you see and process the world, or if writing is new to you and uncomfortable but you still feel the pull to share. We are all people, and we all need each other.

So, Can a normal person write a book? (Translation: With all the stories out there, is there anyone who would care about what I have to say?)

Yes.

PS—If you are still feeling fear and uncertainty about writing, you’ll want to join my free workshop, The Fearless Writing Workshop. This is a simple three-day challenge that will help you see yourself and your story in a new way. Click here to sign up! The workshop runs Tuesday, January 17 through Thursday, January 19. See you there!