4 Obstacles That Keep You From Becoming An Author

Writing a book is on most people's bucket list.

Yet, very few ever see their book completed. Some never get started. Some start but never finish. Either way, the result is the same––it is never checked off their bucket list.

Do you want to write a book?

Do you want to be recognized as an AUTHORITY in your field?

Do you have a message the world needs to hear?

Writing a book was not one of my life goals. In fact, it wasn’t even on my bucket list. But I had a message to communicate. My life experiences gave me a unique perspective that would help others. So I wrote Gilligan Meet Google.

But, I had four obstacles to overcome to become a published author. As I talked with other writers I have found they faced similar roadblocks. Overcoming these obstacles moved us from wannabe’s to authors. Overcome these obstacles and you to can become a published author.

You don’t make an appointment with yourself to write

One thing you can do that will guarantee failure as an author is don't set an appointment with yourself––on your calendar––to write.

Get writing off your to-do list and move it to your calendar.

Each of us has an infinite number of years, months, weeks, days, and hours in our lives. Our calendar is a graphic representation of how we spend that time. When we put an event on our calendar that means we have chosen to exclude other events.

You would be amazed how much you can write if you set aside 2 hours 5 days a week and spend that time writing. Ten hours a week is only 6% of our week. Set aside 2 hours a day––write 15 minutes and take a 5-minute break, then write another fifteen minutes and take another 5-minute break. Repeat that cycle 2 more times and you will have your manuscript done in a matter of weeks.

Do you really want to be an author? Are you willing to commit 6% of your life to achieving that goal?

You don’t set boundaries around your writing time

OK…Great…you decided that you will invest 6% of your life to becoming an author. You have blocked out 2 hours a day for writing.

The next thing you must do if you want to succeed is to set boundaries around that time. Don’t let anyone or anything intrude on those boundaries. Don’t let anyone or anything steal that portion of your life from you.

One thing I learned from my pastor when I was a teen. He scheduled a certain amount of time every day for sermon preparation. He needed 4 hours of focused time every day to prepare the 2 sermons he had to deliver each week. He would get to his office one or two hours before any of the staff –– and the staff knew that the first 2 hours they were in the office he was not to be disturbed –– not even to say good-morning.

Now his staff had a list –– a very short list –– of things he considered more important than his sermon preparation. He could be interrupted only by those things.

We live in the Digital Age––the age of continuous interruptions. Email, smartphones, the Internet, instant news, and social media steals our time and takes us away from the most important things in life. Today, if we want to set boundaries around our writing time we must turn those off. If you are like me even the vibrating phone on my desk can distract my writing.

How do you use technology? Are you addicted? Can you shut it down 2 hours a day to accomplish a higher purpose––to communicate your message to the world?

You are rewriting, rewriting, rewriting, and rewriting

You have blocked out time on your calendar to write. You have turned off all the distractions of technology –– NOW WRITE!