Checking in with my Inner Writer

So I'm on that long journey from first draft through editing and it will take a while - especially since it's my first time. I am still writing a lot of new stuff and have been looking at submitting a short story to a literary magazine that seems like a good match for the type of story.

Enter the doubt dragon. I'm down to 497 words on a flash fiction piece, wondering if I have to include the title in the word count and thinking did I end it right? I've been parayzed with anxiety over submitting this short little piece. there is part of me that's desperate to get something, anything published, anywhere. Because that paragraph where you're supposed to talk about your credentials shouldn't read "ummm".

I've been worried that because my piece of flash fiction is horror genre it will somehow pose a problem if I'm working a query letter for a YA dystopian speculative fiction novel. I'm worried that the ending I have selected is the wrong one and this little gem would work for hte publisher if I the 'other version' and I'm worried that I won't be good enough. After all, I haven't heard back from my beta reader yet...

So I'm writing about it here so that I can make myself make a decision and submit it.

I think this is a muscle I need to grow if I'm going to successfully get an agent and (eventual) book deal.

With a little luck I will be writing an update about what it felt like to hit 'submit' on my piece.

For the curious it's called, "Mother of the Year"