the ninety-seven percent

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Quote, Unquote!

I’ve heard multiple statistics of people who want to be writers. One study from 2002 said that 88% of those polled reported that they wanted to write a book. I have also heard that 97% of people who start writing a book never finish it.

That means that 880 people out of every thousand want to write a book. And if all 880 people start writing their books, only 27 will actually finish writing it. Add that to the fact that only about 20% of authors actually publish their books, and that means that only five to six people out of eight hundred and eighty writers will get their books out into the world.

Now, I couldn’t actually find any of these polls, much less more recent ones, but the numbers seem accurate to me. In your life, how many times do you say “I want to do [insert thing here],” and how many times do you actually do it?

I think that this is a tragedy. One (or multiple!) of those 880 people could have the next great American novel inside of them. We are being deprived of great stories every single day.

If you’re one of those people, I have one thing to say (scream) to you:

JUST. WRITE. THE. BOOK.

Do you feel like you have a story inside of you? Then GET IT OUT! Don’t be one of the ninety-seven percent! Just write the book!

“But Liesl,” you might be saying, “I’m not a writer.”

Listen up.

Who is a writer? What does the very name imply? A writer is one who writes.

That’s it. That’s all there is to it. If you write, you’re a writer. Even if you only write emails. Have you written something in your life? Chances are, you have. Therefore, you are a writer.

And if I still haven’t convinced you, if you still need a permission slip, here. Here’s your permission slip. I just wrote it on the back of my philosophy notes. You’re a writer.

Go write. Don’t be one of the ninety-seven percent. If you have a story inside of you, get it out. I promise it will be one of the best things you ever do.