Common Writing Obstacles & How to Conquer Them

Obstacle 1: You Can’t Write

While some people are blessed with the ability to write thousands of beautiful words, you struggle to craft a single coherent sentence.

We are not born with a mastery level of skills. Even those who are said to be naturally gifted with something had to start somewhere and commit to practicing regularly in order to grow into who they are today. Recognize that it’s not so much that they are naturally gifted as it is that we, as outsiders, did not witness their initial struggle.

If you are passionate enough about something, you commit to it, practicing repeatedly until you master it (and then practicing some more, because you can never know everything there is to know). The good thing is writing is a skill, which means it’s something you can learn if you really want to.

Read more in my article Rules for Honing Your Writing Craft.

Obstacle 2: You’ll Get Around to It Someday

You don’t have the time, lack motivation, or are a procrastinator.

First and foremost, you don’t find time, you make it. It may not always feel that way, but you always have a choice. Determine what your priority is and make time for that, even if it means taking it from somewhere else and even if it’s only fifteen minutes a day.

As for motivation, you need to sit down with yourself and determine whether writing a book is really something you want to do. If it is, then what’s the real challenge for you? I suspect if you dive deep enough, you’ll discover lack of motivation isn’t really what is holding you back.

And if procrastination is your adversary, consider ways to get yourself to commit. Draw up a contract to yourself, create a reasonable word count goal (a small goal is better than nothing), find a writing group or book coach to hold you accountable, create a dedicated writing space to minimize distraction and take your craft more seriously, and set goals and deadlines.

Because someday is today.

Obstacle 3: You Don’t Know Where to Start

You don’t know what to write about, have too many ideas, or don’t know how to begin.

Not knowing what to write about can seem daunting when you want to be an author. Start with a goal to write every day, no matter what it’s about. It could be journaling about your day, using a writing prompt, or focusing on a single aspect such as a potential protagonist or situation. Whatever it is, set a timer for three minutes and write nonstop until the timer ends. Don’t worry about how it flows or whether it all makes sense, just write. Use this stream of consciousness to inspire you.

Once you do have an idea to write about, congrats! That’s a huge first step to publishing a novel. If you have too many ideas, consider it a blessing and, honestly, just pick one. There is no right answer and choosing one idea over the others doesn’t mean you can’t write the other ones at some point too. But you have to begin somewhere or you’ll never begin.

Then get started! Use whatever note-taking device that works best for you (notebook, computer, tablet, phone, etc.) and start world-building, creating character profiles (use my Character Bible Toolkit!), and outlining. These tools will support and inspire you while you develop plot points and bring your idea to life.

If you find you are still struggling to get started, work through some writing exercises such as the ones in my Tips for Writers articles titled Crafting Effective Opening & Closing Scenes, Pairing Plot with Point, and Cause & Effect Trajectory in Plotting, among others.

Obstacle 4: It’s Too Much Work

You like the idea of writing a book but aren’t prepared for the work involved.

Yep, the work doesn’t end when you finish your rough draft. You will also need to self-edit, perform revisions, write your blurb and/or synopsis, hire a professional editor, design your book cover, format for publication, market your book, copyright it, find ARC readers, determine your publishing path, and so much more. It can be downright exhausting. How will you ever get through it all?

“The only way through is through,” (Robert Frost). “If you’re going through hell, keep going,” (Winston Churchill). “Never say whoa in a mud hole,” (Lane Summit, my husband). “If we do not step forward, then we will step back,” (Paul Martin). Do you get the picture yet? You get through it by taking it one step at a time and continually making forward progress.

Read The Self-Publishing Process to learn more and download your FREE Self-Publishing Process checklist.

Obstacle 5: Who Are You to Write a Book?

You don’t have anything of value to share with the world.

Don’t think for one second that what you have to say doesn’t matter. The world is a giant place and I can practically guarantee that someone out there shares your feelings, experiences, or thoughts. Someone else needs to hear what you have to say, to know they aren’t alone, that someone can relate and understand, and that they matter too. And yes, this applies to fiction books too.

While nonfiction may be your first thought on books that add value and help people, fiction is a big contributor too. Fictional stories can provide an escape from reality, relay a universal message or life lesson, and deliver characters who are relatable, flawed, and inspiring.

Read Character-Driven Plot to learn more about how powerful and healing fiction can be.

Obstacle 6: You Struggle with Inconsistency

Partway through writing, you accidentally change your protagonist’s eye color or career or you switch tenses, point of view, or narrators.

As you write, you learn more about your protagonist—their dreams and aspirations, their flaws and motivations, what they want versus what they really need. The details may need to change in order to better fit your protagonist’s personality, raise the stakes, fill in plot holes, or better serve your book’s vision. That’s okay. In fact, it’s a good thing because it means you are paying attention!

As you write, take notes whenever you detail something like your protagonist’s eye color so you can more easily maintain consistency. If partway through you realize something needs to change, make a note of where you are when you make that decision and move forward. Whatever the inconsistency issue is, it can easily be fixed during your second draft self-edits.

Obstacle 7: You Keep Coming Up Short

No matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to get it right.

Count your wins, not your losses. Shift your perspective from seeing shortcomings as failures to viewing these moments as stepping stones on your way to success. Failure is merely a lesson from which you can learn, pivot, and grow.

If you seek opportunity, it will present itself. Set small achievable goals. You can always go over them, but being able to consistently attain them will encourage you to keep making forward progress. And if you need a break, that’s okay too! The point is to give yourself grace, just like you would your best friend.

Obstacle 8: You’ll Never Make It

You’ll never be as good as Abby Jimenez, Jasmine Guillory, or Christina Lauren, so why bother?

First of all, try to not speak in absolutes—never is a very long time. Second, don’t compare yourself to anyone but yourself. Writers often fall prey to comparing their work in progress to the published works of bestselling authors, but this is one of the worst traps imaginable. It can cause you to stall out, stop believing in yourself, and possibly even quit writing all together. 

What you see is only part of the story. You are not taking into account what happened behind the scenes before those bestselling books were published. The authors had to write a first draft, self-edit and revise, hire a professional editor, market their book, etc. They too battle self-doubt, writer’s block, and “shitty first drafts” like the rest of us—just read any famous author’s memoir or book on craft and you’ll see this is true. Even Stephen King, the King of Horror himself, admits to dumping Carrie in the trash!

The only person you can realistically compare yourself with is your past self. Have you improved from where you were a year ago? Have you grown? Learned something new? Improved in some way? Focus on yourself because, in the end, that is all that truly matters. You can never truly know someone else’s journey, so focus on yourself and forge your own path.

Obstacle 9: Writer’s Block Strikes

You start writing but then get stuck.

Writer’s block often stems from a mental blockage rather than a lack of talent. Try some positive affirmations before you begin your writing session. Work through some writing prompts and timed writing challenges where you allow yourself to free write without judgment. Take a creative writing course at your local community college or join a writing community where you can discuss your work in progress with fellow writers. And most importantly, remember that your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect, but you can’t edit what you haven’t written, so get it on the page.

If you have an idea for a book, but simply don’t know where to start or you got stuck on the muddle in the middle, I highly recommend using Jennie Nash’s Inside Outline tool before writing your book for this very purpose (my A Novel Idea book coaching package uses an adaptation of this tool!). It’s a fantastic reference for where your book should be going, what needs to happen, and why. Read Pairing Plot with Point to learn more about Nash’s Inside Outline.

There is also no rule that says you have to write your book in the same order of events your readers will experience. If you feel inspiration strike for a future scene, work on that part and return to this current scene when you’re ready. Even the greatest authors will sometimes place a concept in brackets [insert exciting battle scene here] to be written in better detail when they have a firmer grasp on the protagonist and the plot. As a bonus, changing it up like this can actually help you formulate the bridge between point A and point B.

Obstacle 10: Fear Holds You Back

You let fear of failure, self-doubt, or perfectionism stop you in your tracks.

Maybe you’ve finished your book but you can’t seem to get yourself to move forward with the next steps toward publishing. You’re afraid of rejection, you start believing that your book isn’t as great as you thought it was going to be, or you tell yourself you just need a little more time to perfect this or develop that and then you’ll be ready.

These thoughts will hold you firmly in place forever if you let them. Yes, editing your book is very important. You don’t want to put out a half-hearted book riddled with plot holes and grammatical errors. But nothing in life is ever going to be absolutely perfect, so stop holding yourself to such standards. And yes, there will be people who don’t like your book and maybe they will even leave you a bad review. But there will also be those who find escape in your fictional world, resonate with your protagonist, and are inspired by your theme.

The saddest part of letting fear hold you back is that you will never know what sort of impact your book could have on someone.