Don’t Try To Be Perfect

Some authors think their book has to be a masterpiece.

They're setting the bar way too high.

A masterpiece is an outstanding example of technical accomplishment. (The term comes from the piece of work an apprentice created after many years of training to prove they were a good enough craftsperson to work as a master, under their own name.)

A masterpiece is created for the benefit of the creator. A business book is written for the benefit of the reader. It provides information that will be useful to a reader in the most accessible language possible.

Trying to write a masterpiece places makes your book a burden. It turns writing from a joy into an agony. It's so intimidating an ambition it might stop you writing before you start.

So don't try.

A masterpiece – fiction or nonfiction – still provides value to readers generations after it was written. To get your ROI, your business book only needs to be applicable for the immediate future.

This doesn't mean a business book can't be well written – I'm proud of the writing in all 30 or so books I've ghostwritten – but don't get bogged down searching for the perfect word when other words are good enough.

Leave perfection to the artists and focus on writing a book that works for your readers.