Even the most successful writers of today had to overcome various obstacles to bring us the thrillers, romances, mysteries, and epics that we enjoy reading. Every writer has to tackle the four barriers that mess with our thinking processes: Safe, Perfect, Victim and Feel.

Consider each barrier in its turn. They have been, in effect, gremlins in the machine of your life in general and your writing life. Your barriers you experienced may have taken on a different form from mine, but nonetheless, they fall within the bounds of one or all of the above barriers.

SAFE is a prison without walls. You find familiarity and comfort, but also a paralyzing fear that thwarts any kind of action. The consensus is that everything will work itself out even if you do nothing. I’m sorry, but that’s not how the world works. For you, that book won’t write itself. You have to take the first step to turn that idea into words on paper.

PERFECT is not an ideal that any human being can live up to. “Happily ever after” exists in the minds of those searching for utopia and content to wear rose-colored glasses. PERFECT is the town in a Walgreen’s commercial where nothing goes wrong and everyone is smiling. Seeking perfection keeps us impotent in our pursuits while the rest of the world moves on.

VICTIM is not how you want to be identified. Life as a victim is no life at all. The sum total of all you are and ever will be is hidden by that six-letter word that dominates your existence. It is a mindset filled with denial and shame. Victims are doomed to live in the moments they long to forget.

FEEL involves opening yourself up to others and their opinions. The anxiety of that act can lead to too much emotion on our part. People see us as flighty and full of fancy ideas. On the other hand, lack of emotion makes you appear stiff and cold—the walking dead. For the proper balance, you and your Muse have to strike a deal to work with and not against each other to deliver the best stories possible.

Writers like you overcome these four barriers to create revolutionary stories that could lead to new realities. Your life is your treasure trove of book ideas waiting to take shape. You may move forward cautiously, but do move forward. Nothing worthwhile is easy going. Repeat my saying:

SAFE never starts,
PERFECT never finishes,
VICTIM never acts,
FEEL never thinks.

Looking to sell your novel? Holly Lisle is a full-time writer who has sold 30+ novels to major publishers and is the creator of the “How to Think Sideways Career Survival School for Writers”. Go to http://howtothinksideways.com/members/ to access to 3 free lessons that teach you and access 3 free lessons that teach you how to write a novel that sells – straight from her highly-acclaimed course.

Last 5 posts by Holly Lisle

• Effective Character Descriptions for Novel Writers - February 26th, 2009
• Create, Complicate, Resolve: The Keys to Keeping your Readers Interested - February 24th, 2009
• Assessing your Novel Writing Progress: Check These Four Things - February 21st, 2009
• 4 Steps to Finding the Market for your Novel - February 19th, 2009

This is a Free Reprint Article

You are welcome to publish this article on your website, blog, ezine (free of cost) as long as the author's resource information remains intact and all links remain live and clickable. This article may be published offline in print, provided the author's name and full link to the author's website are both included. Copyright is reserved by author. Read our full Terms of Service.