The 5th Hurdle is... Letting go.

When you're deep into a project most writers experience a kind of Stockholm Syndrome. You want to be free of the project but now there's all the internal pressure to make it perfect before you release it into the world.

Of course It will never be perfect and what's really happening is you're protecting yourself against criticism, rejection, ridicule and failure by holding the project back and keeping it safely tucked away in your computer.

Solution #1: Have at least 3 trusted readers (ideally ones who haven't read earlier drafts) read your work and give you their opinion on if it's ready to go to agents/producers/publishers/etc. And that should be your question to them (i.e., the specific kind of notes you're asking for): is this ready to go out professionally or does it still need more work? And if it needs more work, what area(s)?

There are several hurdles that almost every writer has to get past in almost every writing project; scripts, books, plays, or even a substantial essay or article.

As a writing coach I've helped many writers and talented would-be writers get over – or around – these hurdles. I've also written over a dozen scripts myself – plus many projects that never got finished because of one or more of these stumbling blocks.

Webster's defines a 'hurdle' as: “an artificial barrier over which racers must leap”. I think the key here is remembering they're artificial blocks, usually psychological, and they're almost always put in your way by you. Of course, they seem - and act - pretty real.

HURDLE #1: GETTING STARTED

You might be one of the lucky ones who has no trouble here. If so you've probably gotten started on way too many projects. If you’re one of those people, you can skip directly to the second hurdle. But if you’re having trouble getting going it’s probably due to one of the following reasons:

“I’m too busy with other things!” aka “I can’t find the time!”

Solution #1: