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~Wednesday 17th June, 2026 (Part II !!!).

Now playing: Perfume and Milk - Florence and the Machine

The trees turn grey and the land turns brown, in a house in the woods on the edge of town...

Alright so, gonna be real: today was hard ******** work. I thought it would be another day of simple transcription but it turned out I hit fresh-words territory sooner than I thought, so I got about 1k transcribed, and then had to come up afresh. I definitely hit a wall.

I basically hit the 1k, took a long break to walk the dog, and then my dad said he wanted to come round and watch the football, so I decided to try to write as much as I could while that was on.

It wasn't an awful result, and I did finish the chapter I was working on, but unfortunately it was a fair bit shy of today's goal word count. Still, progress is progress and I'm not too disappointed. My daily goal of 3k works on a basis of me writing I think 3 or 4 days a week instead of every day, so hopefully I can still catch up a bit before I go back to work.

Tomorrow I am out and about for a very much delayed birthday celebration with my best friend, so I suspect I will also not write very much, but every little helps.

Words written today: 2,286

Overall word count: 8,146

Favourite line from today/so far:

(chosen from fresh stuff and not stuff I transcribed because I want to celebrate true progress)

In the beginning these petty thoughts of revenge were the only part of myself I recognised. The shadow parts of myself, maybe, but something real and vital. Now the thoughts felt old and cheap and hollow, a mantra repeated so many times without belief that it had lost meaning. I’ll kill her. I will. I promise.

~Monday 22nd June, 2026.

Now playing: the hum of my bedroom fan (did I mention I can hardly ever draft to music now?)

As predicted I didn't manage to write over the weekend. I also didn't write during the day today. The UK is having a heatwave and I'm cranky, so I spent the day sat in this stupid (glorious) inflatable pool lounger thing I got. I did some reading (not enough) and didn't start writing until 9.30pm.

I didn't hit my goal, again (broken record at this point) but I'm too tired to keep going now since it's nearly midnight. Tomorrow I might be able to steal some words from my previous draft and just make them past tense, but we'll see how that goes because the new plot is diverging a bit.

I'm still not falling in love with this book or these characters and I'm not really sure what to do about that. Part of me is still hoping that will come with consistency and hard work, but I kind of doubt it... sweatdrop

Here's hoping tomorrow will be better.

Words written today: 1,706

Overall word count: 11,499

Favourite line from today/so far:

If Yseult was to be the reason I journeyed to the Palace Below, if she was to be the reason I would die sooner than was my fate, then I would make sure she would be the first damned soul who greeted me at the gates.

~Wednesday 24th June, 2026.

Now playing: Achilles Come Down - Annapantsu

Achilles, Achilles, Achilles, come down. Won't you get up off, get up off the roof?

Heatwave day 3 (4? I've lost track) and my house is hotter than the surface of the sun. I was at my desk at 11am again, and wrote a good 800 words before midday, but honestly it's been too hot to focus so it's been hard work. Still, I'm aware that tomorrow my hob is being fitted which could mean losing writing time dpending when it happens and how long it takes as it's meant to be another day of 31+ degrees.

With that being said, I ended up writing in fits and starts today, slamming in another 800 words between 10.30 and 11.30pm in order to hit my goal. I'm not completely happy with the speed the plot is progressing, but I am extremely proud of my progress, as if you'd asked me at 6pm if I was going to even try hitting my goal instead of resting at 2.2k I'd have told you NOPE. So I'm proud of myself for coming back to finish up, even if the book is rambly. I'd rather have too many words and be able to cut it down than not have a book (ask me again whether I still feel that way in the edits lol).

I also managed to finish a book I've been reading for ages, and spend a delightful hour or two in the garden in my splash pool thing, so all in all a decent day for both progress and relaxation. Go me!

More tomorrow, but let's see how having the hob fitted (and the continuation of 31+ degree heat) derails my best laid plans. dramallama

Words written today: 3,001

Overall word count: 17,551

Favourite line from today/so far:

This wavering was so unlike me that I stalled, my thoughts hitting a wall. I wanted to punish Yseult for what she’d done to me those years ago—and, by virtue, what she’d done to me every day since. I wanted to kill her. So why was it suddenly so hard to picture myself doing just that?

~Tuesday 30th June, 2026.

Now playing: Good Boy - Paris Paloma

And I have never seen a creature more pitiful than him...

I ended up taking the weekend off, which wasn't part of my plan, and yesterday I worked late for my stock-take shift. Today I set out to stitch together and re-tense what I'd done last week but ended up not making as much progress as I'd hoped, largely because my new hob was *finally* delivered (it works!) and then I had to tidy and clean after two weeks of it being too hot to even think about doing that. Then my dad came round. So, only managed a third of my daily goal which is... less than ideal. But given I didn't get home until midnight last night and I was pretty exhausted all day I'll take the 1.3k as a win. It was all freshly written stitching stuff together, so feels as big a win in some ways as the 3k days where I was just transcribing. Wouldn't be a bad day if not for the fact that I don't manage these numbers enough for me to hit my goal. I only have until August 31, which is now exactly 2 months. 2 months to write basically 80k. *shudder*

I am a bit concerned too that I'm 22k into this book and the characters still haven't entered the deadly trials yet, but that's a bridge I'll cross in the edits. I just tell myself Katniss didn't enter the Hunger Games until the midway point dramallama

Bed now since it's midnight again, I might be seeing my mum tomorrow, and I've somehow got to hit my writing goals and then some to make up for today... Hmm.

Words written added today: 1,309

Overall word count: 22,015

Favourite line from today/so far:

“I’ve not been near court for years, and I was never much for keeping track of people when I was here,” I said plainly. “I’ve already forgotten half their names. I’ll never keep everybody straight.”

Elestren had finished her pastry and was now onto several little sandwiches. Sugar from the sweet still coated her lips, giving them a faint sheen. I caught a whiff of something almost herbal and my stomach churned. The hours of anxiety and anger and zero sleep were catching up with me.

“You probably won’t have to for long.”

Before I could ask what she meant the contestants started to drop like the flies they were.

~Monday 6th & Tuesday 7th July, 2026.

Now playing: nadaaaa~

I completely forgot to update yesterday. Wrote (and transcribed) about 3k yesterday and then whisked off to my mum's to pick my car up after its MOT and service. I thought I'd get more done after I got home but by the time I'd nipped to the shop, cooked, eaten, walked the dog etc I couldn't be bothered. Ended up watching movies instead lol

Today I've done fairly well again! Managed to hit the lower goal, changed my sheets and done like four loads of laundry. The rest of my usual weekly cleaning up can wait because my afternoon plans have been derailed slightly (in a good way) by Mum inviting me round for dinner. So I'm gonna pack up for the day now and get ready to head over there (after I feed the dog and peg the last laundry load out haha).

Story is still coming in fits and starts. There's lots of dialogue, way too many characters, and I need a bunch of them to get binned off STAT. Fortunately I think I've found a way to do just that

Words written added today: 2,657

Overall word count: 30,597

Favourite line from today/so far:

~Saturday 11th July, 2026.

It is too damn hot. Walked the dog early this morning at least, and headed round to my mum's later. Managed to get my words done by 4pm which is noice. Still haven't quite reached the plot point I thought I'd hit today, but I'm close (I hope).

Anyway, words down. Writing hard. Rinse, repeat. dramallama

Words written added today: 2,545

Overall word count: 35,922

Favourite line from today/so far:

“There used to be an age limit,” I said. “You used to have to be sixteen.”

Caterina was quiet. Eventually she said, “You still do.”

~Friday 17th July, 2026.

All done today by 5pm. The words are definitely flowing easier this week, for which I am glad. Still feels very light on the plot, but I have to keep going and hope it all comes together soon. Very soon, I hope sweatdrop I feel at the moment like I'm headed towards a 120k novel which is... awkward as my deadline is calculated using 100k. I'll keep it as it is for now, but maybe have to adjust in the coming weeks to accommodate the story...

Words written today: 2,590

Overall word count: 43,660

Favourite line from today/so far:

Yseult’s presence at my back was a burning sensation, as if her eyes might bore holes into the soft skin at my nape. I remembered how it used to feel to rest languidly under that gaze, how I’d revelled in feeling her eyes on me as I dressed. I felt my insides heat and I shifted carefully.