And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking · 3:40am Mar 29th, 2014
Racing around to come up behind you again.
So, as those Pink Floyd lyrics might hint, I'm behind on my draft for chapter 18. Way behind. Like, two weeks behind. Normally the chapter would be going up next weekend and the rough draft's not even finished yet. However, I am very glad to say that after real life and my worst case of writer's block since 2011, the rough draft is finally rolling smoothly. I'm a little over halfway through, I think, and the proposed upload for the final draft is mid April.
I forgot how much legitimate writer's block stinks. This one was an ugly combination of the Blanks and the Every Word I Create Is An Abomination Kill Me Now. I blame a lot of that on A) stress, because we're coming close to the endgame and every scene matters and B) I went in blind. I've got no solid plan for this chapter or much of the chapters after. No outline, no detailed notes, no visualization of how it'd work in my head, nothing. Vague idea of events at best, and most of those won't come in until a chapter later. Partly because for various reasons (mainly that humans are not unicorns and don't behave as such) after this chapter I'm probably gonna be diverting hard from The Last Unicorn.
In unrelated news:
-- Star Swirl finally has a canon appearance! Both in the poster in "Three's a Crowd" and in the comic. I was pleasantly surprised to discover he wasn't a cranky old grump as I expected, but not unlike my own Star Swirl: curious, adventurous, and a little odd. I wasn't expecting a white stallion, but I much prefer it to the fanon grey. It makes his cape really pop.
-- I recently watched Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I watched it all of it in about two days. This was a mistake. I should have paced that out more... Also, that was one of the best things I've ever seen.
-- The Man With Two Names is pretty much done, save for the epilogue. I'm getting those post-story blues because now I need a new fic to have unnecessarily extreme emotions about.
-- "Fight the Power" has been stuck in my head for the past eight days. It will not leave. Send help.
In my own work, I've discovered a few useful things about writer's block.
1) No matter how practiced you get, you can still get Stuck. This is not you being a bad writer, this is you being a writer. Stuck happens.
2) Every time you get Stuck is an opportunity to better learn how to deal with getting Stuck. Every time you face down the Stuck and beat it leaves you better experienced to deal with the next time you get Stuck. Sometimes, even this little bit of optimism can be enough to get the ball rolling again.
3) Stuck is scary. It's bigger than you, stronger than you, and will play on your inexperience and self doubt. But there is one thing Stuck can't do: Run Away. The only way Stuck wins is if you leave it alone for another day. Keep the pressure up and don't give it a chance to rest, and Stuck always goes down in the end.
Just my three bits.
Diverting from the parent story? Hard?
I was a longtime follower before, but this has me intrigued. As much as I love The Last Unicorn, why are we here if not to put our own spin on things?
Getting rid of a song stuck in your head is simple enough: listen to another song that gets even more stuck in your head.
Try a disney movie song (or one from The Last Unicorn). Have you heard the ones from "Frozen" yet? "Let It Go" should REALLY get stuck in your head.
By the way, would you mind if I plugged your story "The Last Human" into my story? I'm thinking of having Lyra make a cameo and maybe mention finding it in her research about humans. Pretty cool how we finally got to see Star Swirl.
Lol I wasn't expecting him to be white either! Hey, maybe he started out as another color, like your take on him, and than his fur turned white from old age or a magic/potion accident?
I haven't seen Star Swirl in the comic yet...I need to catch up on the comics!
But in other news, don't worry about rushing to get the next chapter out. You take your time and do what you need to do to get the chapter to a place you're happy with. We might be your readers but you need to be happy with your work.
You totally got this! 
(I thought I replied to these comment but apparently never did. Sorry for being so late!)
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At some point, all the songs from Frozen got stuck in my head. The second verse of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" was in there for about a month after I first saw it.
Yeah, you can reference "The Last Human" if you want. For future reference, that goes for everyone else, too. (The only thing I'd be iffy about is a full story based on the 'verse, and even then that's only because the story's not finished yet.)
I never predicted white Star Swirl but I was always prepared for the fact that he'd most likely have an older looking coat, if not a totally different coat altogether. It's why I chose to work with a fairly young Star Swirl, since that gives him plenty of time for his looks or personality to change.
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"Hard" might have been a strong word in retrospect, because as soon as I said it I felt like I jinxed myself. But certainly diverting, since almost everything from the final confrontation with the Bull onward from the book sort of demands it.