Lisa Wilkinson reveals personal ‘crisis’ while writing her tell-all memoir

Lisa Wilkinson has opened up about the writing process for her new memoir, It Wasn’t Meant To Be Like This, and revealed the ‘crisis’ she experienced along the way.

The Project host took to Instagram on Monday to share a lengthy caption about her journey filled with ‘heartache’ and ‘pressure’ alongside a candid photo of herself and her son, Jake, working on the book together.

“Ever wondered what writing a book looks like? For me it was often like this: puffy, mascara-stained eyes after hours of tears and many months of a complete crisis of confidence, totally convinced I just wasn’t up to the task,” she began the post.

“It was being comforted by my son Jake (and superb editor) one night in early March as he patiently, lovingly assured his inconsolable mother that I COULD do this and should start submitting my finished chapters.”

The 61-year-old went on to say that she was “running months behind deadline” while also admitting that she isn’t a fast writer.

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Lisa continued: “It was going to bed at 3AM and waking at 6AM so I could just keep writing. It was lots of cold pizza and even colder coffee. It was texting friends to apologise for disappearing and hoping they understood. It was being ‘grumpy mum’ 24/7 and apologising for that too.

“It was telling Peter FitzSimons NOT to tell me about how he wrote his books so efficiently (have a look at the size of his Mawson biography in the pic…hey, no pressure!) because I couldn’t follow any of it, and besides, would he please just go away?!,” she jokingly added about her husband, who is also a successful author and journalist.

“Yep, I’ve been a ball of joy to be around this year.”

Lisa ended her vulnerable post with an encouraging message to her followers that if they’ve ever thought about writing a book, they should do it.

“Because despite all the heartache, pressure, self-doubt, lack of sleep and all the apologising you have to do to those you love and who you ultimately realise will love you no matter what… That moment when you finally hold your finished book in your hands, and it’s real, and you’re proud because despite everything you pushed through all the obstacles, and readers start telling you the way it makes THEM feel, is incredible!

“But if you do write that book, please just know it doesn’t look anything like Carrie Bradshaw sipping wine in a designer outfit gently tapping on a computer looking wistfully out a window at the falling leaves of the East Village below.

“Turns out, it wasn’t meant to be like that. And in the end, I’m so glad and grateful it wasn’t.”

Lisa’s autobiography, which hit shelves last week, has seen the former Today host open up about a number of interesting moments in her career, including her time working alongside Karl Stefanovic.

She most recently made headlines after sharing details about the moment her ex-colleague told her he was ‘madly in love’ with his now-wife Jasmine Yarbrough - just a few months after splitting from his wife of 21 years, Cassandra Thorburn.

The memoir also delves into her final days at Channel Nine and claims that Karl gave her the ‘cold shoulder’ right before she was sacked.

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