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- I’m writing a book. 📕
I’m writing a book. 📕
it exposed something uncomfortable about how we share our stories.
Stephen Stanberry
December 20th, 2025
In partnership with
Hey friend!
Earlier this year, I started something I wasn’t planning to talk about yet.
I’m writing a book.
Not a launch.
Not an announcement.
Just writing.
And from the outside looking in?
This probably feels random.
Because most people know me for business storytelling.
Selling with story.
Turning writing into leads.
And this book has nothing to do with that.
Fair enough.
But once I sat down to write the first chapter, something caught me off guard.
Not the writing.
The resistance.
You see…
The book has nothing to do with funnels, platforms, or positioning.
It is about fatherhood.
Identity.
Pressure.
And trying to stay present while everything feels unfinished.
Which is where the problem showed up.
I spend my days helping people tell stories once they make sense.
Clear arc.
Clean lesson.
Confident delivery.
But this story?
I’m still inside it.
No neat takeaway.
No proof slide.
No “here’s what worked.”
Just questions.
And that bothered me more than I expected.
Because I realized something uncomfortable.
I am far more comfortable teaching from the past than speaking from the present.
Talking after the fact.
After the mess settles.
After the lesson sounds smart.
Writing this book forced me to sit with that.
It forced me to notice how often we wait to feel qualified before we speak.
How often we think clarity must come first.
How often we hide behind polish when the truth is still forming.
And here’s the part I did not expect.
The discomfort had nothing to do with fear of judgment.
It had everything to do with control.
When a story is finished, you control how it lands.
When it is still unfolding, you do not.
You risk being misunderstood.
You risk sounding unsure.
You risk someone seeing you mid-process.
Which explains a lot.
Why so many people only share wins.
Why most stories sound safe.
Why everyone waits for certainty.
And why unfinished stories feel dangerous.
That is the real lesson writing this book handed me.
Not about fatherhood.
Not about culture.
About honesty.
About speaking while you are still figuring things out.
About trusting people with the middle, not just the ending.
Now I am stuck with a decision.
Do I keep the book private until every idea sounds complete?
Or do I let people see parts of it while it is still forming?
Not to teach.
Not to perform.
Just to be honest.
I do not have the answer yet.
So I want yours.
If you were in my position…
Would you keep writing quietly until it is clean?
Or would you share pieces while the story is still unfinished?
Till next time,
Stephen
P.S. Hit reply and tell me what you would do.
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