"Anyone Can Do It"

I think writing must be the one and only profession everyone believes is simple. I'm pretty sure I can't fly a plane or rebuild an engine. Yet if one happens to mention that she is a writer, the inevitable response is, "Yea, I've thought about writing a book."

Well, there you go! Thinking about it and doing it are exactly the same! I've written more than a few books and guess what ~ it's still damn difficult. I still dither over word choice ~ for one word ~  and am often displeased with the final selection. A non-writer doesn't know that one single word or the way a sentence is structured can change a narrative completely. That's assuming a non-writer even knows how to write a sentence. (Believe me, many don't.)

I agree that the story in your head can be a real barnburner. Committing that tale to paper, though, is frustratingly complicated. While I don't plan my stories, I often conjure scenes in my head (generally while in the shower). Oddly, the words I write don't convey those images. So I try again. And again. Watching a movie, even an imaginary one, is passive. Writing a movie takes work.

Even those who move past the "thinking of writing" part generally quit. Turns out their heart isn't in it. Once they understand the effort involved, they decide it's just not worth it. It was only an impulse anyway. I don't like quitters (as you know), but I also don't believe in pursuing an exercise I don't enjoy. 

Everyone isn't born to be a writer, just like everyone isn't born to be a physicist. The delusion is, while all sane people know they can't saunter into a physics lab and develop a breakthrough theory, every single person on earth is sure they can write a book.