Monday Night Blues

It's about a quarter to midnight. Normally, this would be the time when I would really be just starting to get to work. But I'm not feeling well, and I'm kinda low, so I think I'm going to go to bed soon.

I've got a bit of a stomach ache, my sciatica's acting up, and I'm feeling crappy about a writing gig that after almost a year of struggling with, I've finally had to give up on. It was just a short story for an anthology, but with all that was going on last year, I got a very late start on it. Then, about halfway through... it stalled. I lost my way. I just couldn't get another paragraph out.

I took a break, and tried to come back to it fresh, but no soap. I did it again, and nada. Finally, the ultimate, drop-dead deadline came around, and I gave it another, full-bore assault... and just couldn't get it jump started. I don't know why. I'm just blocked on this particular damned story.

I've had a lot of short stories stall out in the past, and I simply abandoned them. On a very few occasions, I was able to revisit them a long time later, and BAM! I was able to break through the wall and take 'em home. But this is the first time it's happened on a story I was commissioned to write, and I feel awful about it – especially since I was really excited about being part of this particular anthology.

Shit.

I think I'm going to bed. "See you" tomorrow.