Feeling Overwhelmed? Here's the Cure!

Remember when your babies refuse to stop crying, no matter what you do? You change them, feed them, cuddle them, rock them, and they're still wailing away. When that happened to me, I was crying along with the little urchins. It's a horrible feeling because you're looking for the solution and it's nowhere in sight. It's fairly common to feel exactly like that when you're writing. Maybe you're practically cross-eyed looking for typos, or maybe you have a deadline looming and you can't seem to find the right combination of conflict. You could have been working for months on the story and it seems almost perfect, but the ending falls flat.
What can you do?  Here are some suggestions:

1. Take a break and do something you love: It could be going for a jog, or shopping for a new outfit. You might love gardening. Whatever it is, find something to refresh you before you go back to your writing project.
2. Tackle your manuscript a little at a time: Thinking of overhauling your complete story is a huge project so edit one section at a time and focus on only that. You'll encourage yourself to continue because you know you've done the right things to make this section spectacular.
3. Correct one problem at a time: Let's imagine that you need to develop your conflict more in a certain section of your story. Remedy that issue first. Then continue to the next problem, once you're satisfied that you've introduced more struggle for your character.
4. Make a schedule for your writing project: Write down that you will devote a specific amount of time each day to your writing project. If you write things down, they become more real to you. Maybe you'd like to spend thirty minutes a day. Whatever amount of time you can spend, be sure to write it down. You're much more likely to succeed if you do this.
5. Be sure to admire your work: Once you've done all of these things, remind yourself that you've accomplished a great deal. It may be more than you ever imagined. Now you're on the way to creating the story of your dreams. Congratulations!