"It's not worth writing for just an hour or so a week. I'm waiting for when I have a week or so free so I can really focus on it."

I have heard this from many would-be authors, and perhaps you believe this sounds like sensible thinking, but I will tell you what I told him. 

You will never have a week when you will do nothing but write every day. An hour a week is better than nothing, and is a million times better than waiting for that magical time when you have a week free where you have literally nothing else to do. 

If you cannot commit to an hour writing a week, what makes you think you will work well for eight hours a day for a week? 

It's an excuse. 

Other excuses include: 

• I need to create a writing space which is calming and inspiring with great views. 
• I'll write when I have a new laptop/desktop as my old one is too clunky. 
• I'm too old to write a book. 
• I'm too young to write a book. 
• I will never write as well as [insert favourite author] so what's the point?
• I don't have time.
• I'll start in the winter/summer.

If you have an idea for a book but haven't started working on it yet I bet you can add some excuses to the list. Every single one of these is an excuse. 

If you have an idea for a book, and you are preventing yourself from starting because of excuses it's time to have a word with yourself. 

Everyone can find one hour a week  or even a day to do something they really want to do. Instead of binge watching a series on Netflix for three hours a night, why not spend at least one hour writing? But if you genuinely can't find an hour, what's wrong with 20 minutes here and there as you have time? Any time spent writing is better than none.

If you don't think you have the right writing environment and would rather have an inspiring office with great views and a vintage desk, think again. If you are writing properly you are not looking at the room, or gazing at the view out of the window. You will be looking at your computer screen, or a notebook if you write longhand. So you can write anywhere, on trains, in your car whilst waiting for your kids, in coffee shops, in the garden, in the library - literally anywhere.

You don't need fancy equipment to write a book. Of course it's nice to have the latest laptop with all the bells and whistles, but Shakespeare wrote with a stack of paper and a quill pen! He managed. And the majority of the work written in the 20th century was written on a manual typewriter so even a slow, crappy laptop is an improvement. 

All you need to write a book, is an idea, a workable plan and a realistic outlook on how long you can dedicate to writing. If you want to write a book in six months you need to be able to write for about an hour, five days a week. But if you only have one hour a week it may take you a year to write the book. If you write longhand and need someone to type it up then you need to add another month, but it is all doable. 

If you want to see your book published, and on sale in the High Street you need to know what you can realistically achieve and more importantly you need to kick those excuses to the curb!

For down to earth advice on writing your first non-fiction book you can book a power hour here, or email me to find out about the 12-week mentoring programme. 

It's time to get writing.