Never be afraid to do one more edit, kids. I decided to give a thrice-rejected story one more read-through before I sent it back out. It now looks like this:

Well, not really, but you get the point.

I did the same to another misfit story, and it has suffered the same fate, but hopefully it’s all for the greater good.

As for May, I’m making it the month I finally write my novella. After a false start last month, some retooling and dragging my heels for far too long, I’ll be working toward writing it all in the next 30 days.

We all go through slumps. But there comes a point when you are sick of your moping and ready to get on with it already. I think I passed that mark a while ago, but got sidetracked by reworking these 2 misfit stories.

So, back on track, with a daily word count that I am charging myself to hit, I’m pulling myself out of this slump and ready to rock!

The word sprints have been pretty good to me. Challenged with the countdown timer hovering over my shoulder like the Angel (while I put the Devil known as procrastination in the corner), my word count is slowly click-click-clicking onward and upward.

But – then it happened. I got stuck. 2500 words in and all of a sudden, it seemed like my characters had all slipped into cement shoes (and not in a good way). They were going nowhere.

So after lamenting about it for a bit, I realized I was going to have to get creative (duh) and try looking at the story from another angle.

Sometimes sideways isn't enough. Sometimes it takes standing on one’s head to get the creative juices flowing.  

If all else fails, I’m going to invest in an inversion table or The Space Pen.

Fellow WIP Wednesday posse:

• Aaron Polson: WIP Wednesday – Juggling & Big Experiment Update
  
• KV Taylor: WIP Wednesday and Draft 2

If you’re a writer participating in WIP Wednesday, post a link to your blog in the comments! More info on the WIP Wednesday initiative can be found at Kate Karyus Quinn's blog.

I seem to go through phases where I am super-productive, and then fall victim to one, if not all of these things. Other than a few sporadic editing sessions and some frenzied writing by the seat of my pants (which is something I never do), I'm still in that rut.

But the good news is I have finally gotten to the point where I am sick of the rut and ready to kick some butt!
So, I am doing what I often hear is what NOT to do. I'm going to toot my own horn! I'm jumping on my own bandwagon. In fact, I'll jump into the driver's seat and DRIVE the damned bandwagon if I have to!

I know I can get wordy when I write. But that just means I sometimes get lost in what I'm writing and can't help but yammer on about it until my pen runs dry. And while I love getting the words down, what I love even more is polishing and rearranging and adding layers of tone and suspense and skin-twinging, spine-tingling creepiness.

I don't have a million stories published. But I have 1 (with a 2nd & 3rd on the way), along with what seems like a billion ideas and snippets and works in various stages of progress that will some day see the light of day. I have written just over 90,000 words on my first novel (editing is another story…), 25,000 words scribbled on a short story collection, and when I see all of these stories lined up – finished or near-completed – I realize that half the fun of writing is in the journey, not the destination. But I still won't quit taking steps to get there, either.

I realize that I have an amazing group of writer-friends who constantly amaze me with their talent and their support. Even if they don't realize it, their constant efforts towards their own goals keeps me on my toes and inspires me to keep evolving and growing.

I realize that I am good enough whether I have a good writing day or not; that I don't need to compare my success to the success of others; that I am on my own track and as long as I keep striving for what I want, I RULE!

So, there. Incredibly self-indulgent blog post over. We all need a little pep talk now and then. What's yours?

[NWC]

I'm still freelancing, but everything else has suffered. I did manage to open up a few of my stories this past week. But I quickly felt lost, completely taken out of the flow of words and not inspired at all.

Whether the stories are just not holding my attention or I just feel like I'm staring at a big chunk of clay that needs some serious slicing and shaping (and punching), I seem to have hit a slump that I don't see any way out of yet.

So, what do I do? Use it. I've got a few articles on writer's block coming up this week (if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right?).

I'm trying to get some of my week's work done today so I can sit my butt at my writing desk all week and make some progress. Because there is nothing worse than feeling like everything you've written sucks and you will never have a good idea again.

Which brings me to my favorite article this week. It actually comes from last week – Develop a story idea in five minutes.

Sometimes, after working all day, I end up feeling as though it's "too late" to dive into writing. I see this as sort of a self-defeating mindset, as you have all heard my talk of being an insomniac (and there really isn't any right or wrong hour of the day to write). Why I do this to myself, I don't know. Laziness, fear of suckage, what have you. But I figure I should take my own advice, and let this method of quick writing sprints get me back into the flow of writing.

So, how do you beat writer's block? How do you conquer that nagging voice in your head that tells you that you are no good? What's the longest you've gone without writing anything new?

I do know one thing that can only help – chocolate. Email me if you need my mailing address.

If you missed 'em, my other writing articles this week include a few on travel writing (both from home and abroad), a boot camp for writers who need a little discipline (like me) and one on how using your unique writer's voice can translate into sweet book sales.

[NWC]

Other than a few poetry submissions to (and subsequent rejections from) Prism International, this was the first time I had sent my work out into the publishing world.

My Idea:
I came up with this idea after reading about an old superstition about eating spiders in pats of butter to ward off illness. Being arachnophobic, this both grossed me out and intrigued me. And knowing how many other people out there hate or fear spiders, I knew that this piece would definitely cause a reaction. What else can you ask for?!

The Story
This piece actually turned out to be a bit more of a challenge than I had previously thought.

700 words. That was all the room I had to tell this tale. 700 words to work in plot, character, and the right creep-to-gross-out ratio.

My first draft was double that. It started with a scene that was inspired by a middle school end-of-year party at Lori Hawthorne's house where someone killed a spider with a hammer in Lori's backyard. Ah, the memories.

That part had to be cut, unfortunately, as I realized I had to start the story much later. The good thing is I already had a vision (or should I say "heard") of exactly how the story would end. I could literally hear my own voice in my head reading the story aloud and the final line…"And when Mrs. Crawley…" well – you get the point. I can't very well post the final line here, no matter how many of you are immediately-turn-to-the-last-page-of-the-book readers. You'll just have to read it for yourself. Then let me know what you thought of it!

The Acceptance:
I found out that my story was accepted after a camping trip where our tent was bombarded with countless (seriously!) Daddy Long-legs. At the time, I was overwhelmingly terrorized by the disgusting little creatures – but in hindsight, I look at it as a sort of skin-crawling tiding of what would soon be great joy.