Once you're writing and the words start flowing, you can get totally carried away.

A little carried away is a great thing for creativity. Too much and you hit hurdle #4: Losing Perspective.

This is tricky because a crazy person doesn't know they're crazy, right?

So here are several ways you'll know when you've lost perspective -- and what to do about it:

#1: Your latest version of the material seems oddly familiar and you realize that you're re-written yourself in a circle and have arrived back at your original version of the material.

#2: You're obsessing about whether a line reads better as "she is" or "she's" for more than five minutes.

#3: You start taking advice from people whose advice you previously dismissed completely as petty or misguided.

#4: You forget to shower for more than four days.

#5: You get conflicting advice about how to 'fix' your project and can't tell which one you agree with.

#6: You have a gnawing feeling that something is terribly wrong with your project, or you've forgotten something essential, but don't know what it is!

#7: When a new acquaintance asks what you're working on, you blather incoherently and every sentence trails off into an ellipsis. (Assuming you aren't always like that.)

When you find yourself rearranging deck chairs instead of watching out for icebergs, there are really only 2 solutions:

#1: Give it Time.
At some point, you have to step away from the project (Beth likes the yoga phrase, "step away from the chaos"). This doesn't mean it's necessarily finished, and doesn't mean you should necessarily send it to everyone in town. But sometimes only time can give you the distance you need to see clearly what to do to finish your project. I always think of that scene in the African Queen when Bogart and Hepburn collapse in exhaustion having failed to reach open water. The camera raises up to reveal that they're only a few meters from their goal. They just can't see it.

Maybe you have another project you've been waiting to start until you're done with the first project. Now is a great time to start it. That's a great way to stay productive and give yourself perspective. Plus you get the psychological reassurance of not having all your eggs in one basket.

#2: Get Help.
You can't really get perspective from a book because they can only offer generic advice and every project is different.

Most beginning writers don't want to ask someone else for help but almost everyone needs it. They feel like they should be able to do it all themself. But in Hollywood when a TV writer has a working draft of their pilot, that's often the time they call all the best writers they know and bring them in for a punch-up. When you've lost perspective, others can see things much more clearly. It doesn't mean you have to listen to everything they say, you're still in charge of the project, but often the new perspective alone will refresh your own bleary vision.

There are also many professional writing coaches (including me) who are available for this. Of course, not every coach is right for every writer and you should consider their website and credentials and/or ask for a short trial session before committing to any extended relationship. You should also shop around for rates. I work for as little as $60 for a single half-hour, but I know people who charge several hundred per hour. You'll have to assess their value for yourself. I can tell you that a few hundred dollars up front can give you some priceless perspective and make the difference between losing your way and finishing your project.

Once you've regained your perspective and enter the homestretch of your writing project, you only have one final hurdle to go...

The image above, by the way, is by a cool collage artist named Thomas Allen