When it doesn't come together

I hate when things don't come together. Currently, I am working on an article that isn't coming together. I hate telling my editor things like, "I'm sorry, I wasn't sure what the focus was," or I'm not getting any good responses," or how about, "I know the study says this, so how come everyone is telling me that?"

Especially when it's all about the same article. Things like this have happened before. Sometimes I get the feeling an article is cursed. Anything that can go wrong, does. Experts flake out on me at the last minute. The information points in a completely different direction than the assignment. You can't find an anecdotal source to save your life. That sort of thing.

My editors give me a lot of leeway cause I have proven myself to them over and over, but it's still humiliating. Unprofessional.

Sometimes ideas don't come together. I pitched my great idea to my agent and she hated it. Really hated it. Though it was creepy and not in a good way. Sigh. One example of an idea that didn't come together.

Sometimes scenes don't come together. I wrote a love scene in my book over and over because it wasn't coming out right. (Yes, a love scene in a YA that was hot but not fulfilling, if you know what I mean.) I have trouble with other scenes and have to go back and look at the purpose of the scene. What is the conflict, the goal, the motivation. Usually, when I strip it all down I can figure out what's wrong with it.

I need to finish the article from hell and then I can work on my fiction. Kids are gone for most of the morning and though I should be going to my chapter meeting, I think I will have to skip it.Um yeah, especially since it's in five minutes!