Creative Inertia

For the past few days after sending off the third chapter of The Current Writing Project to the beta reader, I've been feeling antsy and adrift, as if I'm not moving fast enough, or moving anywhere at all. Today I realized that it's due to being in a sort of creative inertia: I'm past a particular hurdle (finishing the third chapter of an in-progress four-chapter work), and now I'm waiting to get feedback from the beta, so I'm sort of... stuck. I don't want to get super-enamored with a scene from the fourth and final chapter only to be informed that it ultimately won't work with the rest of the story. I wouldn't be upset, obviously, but it'd be a difficult job to rework the already-written parts--I want to keep moving forward and get the project done, without having the dizzying task of hack-n-slashing the cabbage of my words into coleslaw.

I also realize, after a conversation with the husband, that I want to read more classic works, but not just the classic works of my own country; I'd like to read other classic works from other parts of the world (so if you have recommendations for any genre, please plug 'em here!). I also have a bookshelf with at least 20 other books (fiction and non-fiction) I need to finish reading... I've considered putting them into a google doc/checklist of some sort that I can make notes on as I go through them. At this point, though, it seems like it'd take a week just to do that.

Spring is also just around the corner, and, as much as I love the more mild seasons, the transition is what gets to me, with regard to allergies. The rain is hard to cope around, as well. I know that it's needed, but I kind of also need a break from the seasonal affective disorder issues. I'm really looking forward to being able to take kiddo out for short stroller walks, though!