Writing Your Book Doesn’t Have To Be Hard, when you stop treating it like a struggle and start playing it like a game, momentum finally becomes possible.
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Key Takeaways From Stuck on Your Book? Let's Fix That!
- Writing Your Book Doesn’t Have To Be Hard when you stop treating it like a struggle and start treating it like a game.
- Big writing goals become achievable when you break them into small, playable quests.
- Most authors miss this trick to finish their book: celebrating small wins builds real momentum.
- Power-ups and allies are essential tools for getting past writing blocks and overwhelm.
If you’ve ever been told that writing a book has to be hard, exhausting, or full of struggle, you’re not alone. Many nonfiction authors grew up with the belief that anything meaningful requires grinding through discomfort. But what if that belief is the very thing keeping your book unfinished?
Writing Your Book Doesn’t Have To Be Hard, and in fact, the faster path to finishing may be leaning into something most authors overlook: play.
Make Writing Your Book a Game to Build Momentum
Many of us were raised to believe that struggle is normal, expected, even noble. Life is hard. Writing is hard. Finishing a book is hard.
And while struggle exists, the question isn’t whether it shows up, it’s how you approach it.
You can lean into struggle…
Or you can lean into something else.
For nonfiction authors, leaning into play can completely change your relationship with writing.
Why Play Works When Willpower Fails
Think about games you’ve played, Monopoly, Risk, Clue, D&D. Every game has an epic win:
- Winning the game
- Solving the mystery
- Taking over the world
- You don’t sit down and achieve an epic win in one move. You progress through smaller actions, decisions, and challenges.
Writing a book works the same way.
Your epic win might be:
- Publishing your nonfiction book
- Becoming a recognized expert
- Creating impact through your ideas
The Epic Win: What Most Authors Miss When Trying to Finish a Book
Here it is: break the epic win into quests.
Instead of “write my book,” your quests might be:
- Brainstorming ideas
- Clarifying reader transformation
- Writing one chapter
- Revising a section
When you make writing your book a game, each quest is small, contained, and achievable. You only need to design one quest at a time, not the entire journey.
Design one. Complete it. Then design the next.
This alone removes overwhelm for most nonfiction authors.
Why Overplanning Kills Momentum
It’s tempting to plan every step from beginning to end. But overplanning creates pressure, and pressure invites procrastination.
Just like in a game, obstacles will appear:
- The blank page
- Too many ideas
- Not knowing how to explain your book
- Feeling lost in “the fog of confusion”
That doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means you’re playing the game.
Power-Ups: What to Do When You’re Stuck
In games, power-ups help you keep going. Writing works the same way.
Power-ups might include:
- Taking a walk
- Answering one small writing prompt
- Listening to music
- Watching something funny
- Cooking a nourishing meal
- Stepping away instead of forcing progress
When you’re stuck, banging your head against the keyboard isn’t heroic, it’s counterproductive.
Power-ups restore energy so you can return with clarity.
Allies: You Were Never Meant to Do This Alone
Every hero has allies, and so do successful authors.
Your allies might be:
- A book coach
- An editor
- Other writers
- Friends or family
- Even a pet who sits beside you while you work
Allies help you:
- Design better quests
- Work through obstacles
- Gain perspective
- Celebrate wins
You don’t need a thousand allies. A few good ones make all the difference.
Celebrate to Build Momentum
This is where science backs us up.
Celebrating small wins creates momentum. Momentum builds confidence. Confidence keeps you moving forward.
Finish a chapter? Celebrate.
Clarify your idea? Celebrate.
Overcome a block? Celebrate.
Writing Your Book Doesn’t Have To Be Hard when you allow progress to feel good.
The Real Secret to Finishing Your Book
You don’t finish a book by forcing yourself through misery.
You finish a book by creating momentum.
That’s why making writing your book a game works so well, and why most authors miss this trick to finish their book.
Epic win.
Small quests.
Power-ups.
Allies.
Celebration.
Play the game, and let your book finally get finished.
How These Ideas Help You on Your Author Journey
Implementing the ideas from this episode helps you stop treating writing as a test of endurance and start treating it as a process you can win.
When you reframe your book as a game, you shift out of overwhelm and into momentum. Instead of staring at the entire mountain, finish the book, you focus on one achievable step at a time. That alone reduces procrastination, perfectionism, and burnout.
This approach helps you:
- Replace struggle with play, so writing feels lighter and more sustainable
- Break a massive goal into clear, doable quests, making progress visible
- Prepare for obstacles in advance, so blank pages and confusion don’t stop you
- Build momentum through celebration, which reinforces consistency
- Use allies and power-ups intentionally, instead of trying to do everything alone
In short, this is why Writing Your Book Doesn’t Have To Be Hard: when you design your process like a game, you keep moving, even when things get messy. And this is the trick most authors miss to finish their book.
3 Quick Action Items (5 Minutes or Less Each)
1. Name Your Epic Win (2 minutes)
Write one sentence:
“My epic win is…”
For example:
“My epic win is publishing a clear, helpful nonfiction book that serves my audience.”
This anchors your motivation and gives every writing session a purpose.
2. Design One Quest (3 minutes)
Choose one tiny, specific quest you can complete next.
Examples:
- Brainstorm chapter ideas for 10 minutes
- Write bullet points for one section
- Rename your working book idea
Stop at one quest only. Don’t plan the whole game.
3. Pick One Power-Up (2 minutes)
Write down one thing you’ll do when you feel stuck.
Examples:
- Take a 5-minute walk
- Make a cup of tea
- Play one song you love
- Step away and reset
This gives you a response plan before frustration hits.
If you do nothing else, do these three things today. Small wins create momentum, and momentum is how books get finished.
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