Yesterday was delightfully productive in terms of writing output, especially when I stopped stressing over the scene I was trying to write and skipped to the end of said scene, leaving enough stubs to work with in the next draft while not leaving so many that I felt like the scene was more threads than fabric. I talked to the MumPilot about the scene last night and I think she hit on exactly the problem: this scene was so intense, with so many emotions and feelings, physical and emotional, swirling around my MC that I, too, got caught up in it, to the point where my head was nearly as crowded as Gina's! Not good. So, as aforementioned, I wrote the end of the scene instead and, before I knew it (and I mean that literally - I typed the end of a sentence and went to write more and then realized ... duhn duhn duhn ...), I was at the end of the chapter! Chapter two done - yays! I wrote nearly 1,200 words (!!). And I broke the 5,000 word milestone (!!!!!).

Today, I rewarded myself by getting lost in the sweet romance and poetry of The Juliet Club (Suzanne Harper) and crying happy, sad, and bittersweet tears over the second issue of the Archie-marries-Veronica saga.

I now feel refreshed and recharged and ready to tackle the next chapter, which first means setting down on paper (aka a legal pad) some backstory-intertwined-with-present-story juiciness, involving disgruntled politicians and nobles, a torn king, and a princess with mysterious motivations. I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, how is your WIP doing? What do you need to do to propel yourself on to the next chapter/scene/moment?

The week I finished my latest university course, I had a plan.

I scoured my 'To-Read' list on GoodReads and picked out a wide variety of books that also happened to be available at my library.

I put said books on hold, as many were at different branches.

When I wasn't studying, I refreshed the library page to see how many were in transit and how many were ready to be picked up. Hm, I thought, I wonder what the librarians will think when they see that one person has taken up nearly an entire hold shelf? They might be delighted. They might ... no, better not to think that through. (Now, where did I hide those Groucho Marx glasses?)

On the day of my exam (June 5th), I toted a nearly empty backpack up to the university, stored it with the nice invigilator lady, and then, after finishing said exam (and exclaiming at the top of my lungs - or at least in my head I was - "I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEE!"), I took the bus downtown and trotted into the library.

Um ... I didn't take up an entire shelf (it's a very long shelf) but I did take up a good half of it. But that wasn't my first stop in the library! I ALSO had a handy list of books that were available AT THAT BRANCH to grab. (While browsing for knitting books, I eavesdropped on a girl who came up behind an at-least-college-aged male friend and said snottily to him, "What are you doing in the kids section?" Ducking my head, I smirked. Some people just don't know.)

So I returned to the hold shelf with a few books tucked under my arm, a backpack on my back, and started shuffling books off the shelf and into two tidy stacks on the floor.

I was barely halfway through when I realised I couldn't possibly lift all of the books at once! It was physically impossible. My arms are not that long.

Toting half of my precious cargo to the self-checkout without the stack toppling, I checked them all out, packed them away, and then surreptitiously returned to the hold shelf and retrieved the other half of my bounty.

Then I walked home.

Then I met Mum at Serious Coffee.

At which point I collapsed.

But I collapsed an ecstatic, FREE, ready-to-dive-into-books-that-don't-have-to-be-analysed-to-death girl!

Final count?

...

( 26. )