Writing Obstacles
How I Overcome Them
As I’m finishing up another novel, I think back to the beginning and remember how it’s always frightening to stare down that first blank page. But then I realize there are even more obstacles ahead. What obstacles depends on the writer and his or her unique situation. For me, a few come to mind. Unfortunately, it’s the same few every time. I’ll talk about six that haunt me the most and briefly explain how I deal with them. Hopefully, I’ll provide something that will help you get through the obstacles you face.
1. Finding Time to write
This may seem obvious, but finding the right time to write makes all the difference in the world. I like to write in the wee hours of the morning when distractions are at a minimum. It’s when my mind is the most fluid, and my concentration is at a peak. This is the time I can stay focused on the task I’m working on. Once the sun comes up, all bets are off, and I have to take advantage of whatever distraction - free time I can get. Of course, there are times in every project where I’ll hit the sweet spot and can pump out words at a fever pitch. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen very often. So when it does, I politely ask everyone around me to kindly back away. There’s a wordsmith in motion.
2. Drowning out distractions
I’m sure someone somewhere has figured this one out. I haven’t. I’m sure there are those who could sit on the Lakers bench during Game 4 of the playoffs and still pump out a few chapters of a novel. I could not. I’m not saying I need complete solitude to be effective, but I am easily distracted. So how do I deal with it? I write in the wee hours of the morning when everyone else is, or should be, asleep. Once the sun comes up, I’m fair game. Most of the time.
I live in a world of distraction, and, unfortunately, a good percentage of it comes from right inside my head. Yeah, there’s a constant battle up there of random crap competing for my attention. It is rare that I sit down to write and go about it distraction-free. My brain rebels against that for some reason. How do I deal with it? Sometimes I use the built-in tools of my writing software to set goals. For example, with word counts, or with a scene in mind, set a word goal and then start and don’t stop writing until I’ve reached the goal or the draft of the scene is complete.
Other things I’ve tried are sticking to a routine. Snacking helps by making sure my stomach isn’t competing with my brain for attention. Dedicated writing space is another thing I try to stick to. It actually works pretty well. And last, I eliminate peripheral noise like other screen movements or various alerts such as social media, email, and text messages. I turn all that stuff off while I’m writing. And last, I allow absolutely no TV background noise in the room with me. None. Nada. Zilch. It is my one hard fast rule.
3. Title Tweaking
Until recently, I didn’t know there was a term for this one. But here we are. So, usually before I home in on a writing project, be it blog post, article, or novel. I come up with a title and write towards it. Also, when I’m about halfway through the project, I’ll allow my mind to talk me into declaring, “This title sucks,” and reboot it to come up with another gem. Unfortunately with novels, especially print novels, this sort of nonsense can wreak havoc on a very important level.
“My boneheaded sin of title tweaking is prematurely assigning an ISBN.”
In the name of efficiency, I like to do things in stages, and for me, purchasing and assigning an ISBN used to be part of a stage well before finishing the book and cover. Needless to say, I found out the hard way about the drawbacks of that sort of thinking. For those who may ask why, that’s a whole other topic. For now, take my word for it and just… don’t… do it. Never assign an ISBN and then publish the work until you know for sure you will stick with the title and cover. There’s no easy remedy for change, and it can get costly. My book, The Pursuit 2, is a prime example. If I ever get over the anger stage, I may do a post on that whole path to failure.
4. Battles with Confidence
We all experience it. We all know it sucks. Whenever I write, even those times when I have a good streak going, the confidence bug will worm its way back into my brain. And what does it say?
“I’m but a lowly self-publishing guppy. But readers hold my writing to the same standard as industry giants.”
And why shouldn’t they? I ask for money in exchange for my work. Readers have every right to expect a fair return on their investment. Once the confidence bug makes its way in, though, it’s game over until I can come up with a good enough counter to convince my brain otherwise. And only then can I return to hammering out literary gems, but only until it happens again. So why do I do it? Because not doing it would concede defeat. It would mean I feel I’m not good enough. And by Jiminy, I’m no quitter. My mom told me so, so it must be true.
Whenever I get a severe case of the confidence jitters, I remind myself that there are some pretty famous and accomplished people out there who have struggled and continue to struggle with the issue as well. Here are some names you probably wouldn’t have expected.
Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner, John Steinbeck.
Mary Ann Evans used the male pseudonym George Eliot becasue she was insecure about being taken seriously.
Charles Bukowski suffered years of rejection. So much so, he quit writing for nearly a decade. Imagine the loss to the world had he not started writing again.
5. Perfectionism
I feel perfectionism goes hand-in-hand with the whole confidence thing. When I’m battling confidence issues, it’s usually triggered by a need to achieve perfection. I’m not one who has a broad vocabulary or even a broad understanding of the words in my limited vocabulary. I have to dig deep sometimes for the words I choose, and then often have to validate them to make sure they mean what I think they mean.
I’ve read a ton of works on the confidence and perfectionism topics. I know I’m guilty of overthinking both, and yet I still find it sometimes extremely difficult to break out of bouts with them. I can only deduce that it’s par for the course, the price of fame, the harbinger of success. Whatever tagline fits your fancy, perfectionism is an obstacle that writers deal with, and there are few of us who are immune. I don’t have a hard fast rule for dealing with this one, but I can tell you I power through it one hundred percent of the time. And so will you.
6. The Pantser
First off, I don’t consider this one an obstacle. I list it because others do. Moving on. I’m a pantser, aka a discovery writer, and over the years, I have taken a fair amount of flack for it. I generate ideas on-the-fly and write by the seat of my pants. I advance the story scene-by-scene, chapter-by-chapter, and sometimes in response to character interactions. Yes, there are some drawbacks. Sometimes I run into meandering and pacing issues, but I usually weed them out during revisions. Sometimes I hit a wall, and it can be difficult to get around it. I look at it as the-nature-of-the-beast and deal with it.
Some writers argue that not having an outline is the reason. I don’t disagree, but I have never been good at outlining because I don’t have the vision necessary for it. Even when I’ve tried outlining, I never follow it. And every time I’ve failed at going that route, I fall back to my pantser roots and things get to moving again. And that’s really all that counts. So, while I’m reluctantly including this as an obstacle to writing, I respectfully disagree with the premise, as do many other professionals out there making solid livings as prantsers. Think Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, and Quentin Tarantino.
Conclusion
There are as many writing obstacles out there as there are writers. Except for point Six, I’ve highlighted the ones that consistently trip me up. I’ve gotten better over the years, but I still have lapses. It’s all part of the game, I suppose. I’ve found that talking it out helps. As did writing this article. Thanks for listening.
Get Notified When New Articles are Released
