There are many walls that writers have to hurdle to make it to the finish line as a published author. Sometimes those walls are self-imposed, like writer’s block, and other times those walls are caused by outside forces, like a publisher’s rejection letter. All of these walls can be overcome and soon, you’re on your way to being a published author.

That’s the best feeling in the world, you know. Holding your book in your hands is a feeling of complete and unadulterated bliss. You know why? It’s because the journey it took to get there was an unrelenting, mind-crushing, pain-filled agony from beginning to end, but maybe, just maybe, its a good thing. Actor Will Smith said,

“You don’t try to build a wall, you don’t set out to build a wall. You don’t say I’m gonna build the biggest baddest wall that’s ever been built. you say, I’m gonna lay this brick, as perfectly as a brick can be laid, and you do that every single day, and soon you have a wall. It’s difficult to take the first step when you look how big the task is. The task is never huge to me, it’s always one brick.”

This is just an example of the challenges that await many writers. The walls we build can be both good and bad. When writing, a wall can represent the stagnation in your story, a writer’s block as big as the Great Wall of China. Yet, even these blockages can be diverted, like a beaver dam blocking the river. A little dynamite can go a long way; and by dynamite I mean inspiration, imagination and ideas. Michael Jordan said,

“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”

You don’t need a five-step program or a life coach to overcome these obstacles in going from writer to published author. All it takes is a little research, some networking with other independent, self-published authors, and time and effort on your part. Remember, walls aren’t there as obstacles but rather as challenges.

You can break through any wall, without too much pain and damage to yourself. Persistence is the key to breaking down these walls. The whole Galaxy Quest, “Never give up, never surrender!” come to mind. Don’t let the walls discourage you or you may find yourself staring at your computer screen, waiting to type the next word, for weeks on end.

It’s not fun when you hit that wall, but remember, most of the pain is self-inflicted. Pull together that which inspires you to write and use it to climb over, break through or go around the wall. I know a lot of this sounds like a bunch of metaphors, and they are, but they’re good ones.

As writers, we know all the right words to do and say to get our characters out of any mess. The object is to apply those same foils to ourselves. It might not be practical, but it can be quite useful. You do what you have to do to get the story written. Your success counts on one thing and one thing only … YOU!

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Mark Piggott is the author of the Forever Avalon book series. Forever Avalon is available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The Dark Tides is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iUniverse publishing. The Outlander War, Chapter 3 of the Forever Avalon series is coming soon.