I'm not a terribly productive writer. Indeed there are weeks when something like the two flash stories that I posted recently are all I get out for the whole week. Worse there have been months when I produced less than what is in those two pieces. So in my life I discover the first gatekeeper is myself.
That might seem counter intuitive but really it is true that the first obstacles we have to overcome are those that we place on ourselves. So what else could stand in my way?
Regulation. I have several stories started that feature people that would be under the age that is allowed to be in a fictional sex setting.
But we must protect the children, is the cry that fueled those rules. But do those laws really do that?
Maybe, but if I were trying to make a living at this it certainly would constrain me from going to the press with those stories (and like Aroslav pointed out such rules can keep you from having your work available. Sometimes you can't even find out the 'rule' that you have violated. You are just told that you have vaguely violated a rule...)to the point that I can't give them away here and frankly I'm frightened to give them away at ASSTR.org.
Why would I be frightened to give my work away? Because like some people have stated, they fear that ASSTR has become a 'honey pot', by which I suppose they mean that they believe that it is being kept in place by govt regulators (gatekeepers) who are just waiting for you to post obscenity there.
But that is not the only area in my life that gatekeepers have made difficult. I hoped to make my living as a proofreader, yet for some reason there seems to be either a formal or informal rule in place that you must have a PHD to do that work. A PHD to proofread? Other than a math or science text where I had to actually check the accuracy of the equations or the accuracy of the research, I can see absolutely no reason that such a requirement should be in place. Literally it seems to me that people who have higher degrees have gotten into places where they are protecting their almamater and providing 'work' for their fellow certificate holders.
I'm fairly sure that for even the most technical work there ought to be a few people who get on the team to say, hey you've gone over everyone's head....
I actually have been looking into the possibility of getting a commercial driver's license, but for various reasons (some of my own making I admit) I've not done that yet...
But it is hard to wonder if I'll end up homeless because I can't find work. Hard to keep away from the superblues, to not look over at that bottle of vicoden and say, there is a cure for my pain, a permanent cure, after all everyone thinks I'm useless and worthless...