Your writing sessions - where you finish

seun · Aug 28, 2007

When you finish your writing for the day, where do you leave your work? Do you make sure you're at the end of a scene/chapter so when you come back to it, you're starting a completely new one or do you leave it in the middle of a scene? I go for leaving it in the middle so I know exactly what's happening the next day.

EriRae · Aug 28, 2007

I leave mine in the middle, too. If I finish at the end of a chapter, I have less motivation to go back to it the next day...or month...haven't started chapter five on my current WIP. Stuck there for a month and counting. Granted, I'm revising my finished novel, but--a whole month. I've started WIP #2 in that month, too. Just can't find the motivation to go back. Wish I would've left it in the middle of chapter 4.

Stijn Hommes · Aug 28, 2007

I leave wherever my schedule tells me too. I tend to figure out what I want happen beforehand, so I always know what I want to do when I return to it.

dclary · Aug 28, 2007

seun said:
When you finish your writing for the day, where do you leave your work? Do you make sure you're at the end of a scene/chapter so when you come back to it, you're starting a completely new one or do you leave it in the middle of a scene? I go for leaving it in the middle so I know exactly what's happening the next day.

I've finished in the middle of a word before. I usually write late at night until I pass out. And then in the morning I have to decipher just wtf the incan monkey god was channeling through me. At the end, I hope I have enough coherent words to call it a story.

seun · Aug 28, 2007

dclary said:
I've finished in the middle of a word before. I usually write late at night until I pass out.

I once wrote an entry in my diary that trailed off with the word inside. The sentence before it made no sense with or without the final word.

Being jetlagged might have had something to do with it.

aadams73 · Aug 28, 2007

I stop wherever, usually about the time my dog decides it's time to go downstairs and play ball. After dinner I'm back upstairs tinkering with my WIP anyway.

DocBrown · Aug 28, 2007

I stop when my brain tells me to stop, usually, after I have been writing 2-4 hours.

Where that is anyones guess.

Garpy · Aug 28, 2007

Interesting thread.

I stop as soon as I hit about 1000 words. Then later in the day, I'll come back and polish that 1k which usually takes it up to 1500 words.

sunna · Aug 28, 2007

I stop when I can't keep my eyes open anymore, or when I realize that the last few sentences were completely incoherent. Or when I lose momentum and need a break to get back on track. Or when my husband invents a distraction sufficient to get my attention.

Basically, I have no rules.

Pike · Aug 28, 2007

There seems to be a consensus here on when we stop. I'm in the same boat, finishing when I have to run off to work, when the kids need some serious attention, when my head has hit the keyboard several times in a row and I'm running the risk of shorting out my computer from the puddle of drool creeping across the desk. Luckily, I haven't had any trouble picking back up afterwards. Sometimes, it's been beneficial because I missed a major point that would have screwed my story or chapter. Having it end mid way leaves it hanging in my brain until I resolve that portion then I'm ready to tackle it again.

Pike

Jamesaritchie · Aug 28, 2007

Stop

I have a countdown timer on my computer. I set it for either two and a half or three hours, pause it if I have to go get a cup of coffee, answer the phone, take a bathroom break, etc., and start it again when I sit back down to write. When the countdown time expires, I stop. I do this twice a day.

seun · Aug 28, 2007

Jamesaritchie said:
I have a countdown timer on my computer. I set it for either two and a half or three hours, pause it if I have to go get a cup of coffee, answer the phone, take a bathroom break, etc., and start it again when I sit back down to write. When the countdown time expires, I stop. I do this twice a day.

So you could literally be in the middle of a word when your timer goes?

reenkam · Aug 28, 2007

I stop when I get to the end of a scene. I only stop mid-scene if I really have to go somewhere and don't have a minute to spare. Otherwise, I'll just type really fast.

Claudia Gray · Aug 28, 2007

When I lose focus and realize that I'm no longer making much progress, or that what I'm putting down is just going to have to be rewritten anyway.

MidnightMuse · Aug 28, 2007

I stop when I get interrupted, realize what time it is and that I'm late for something, or run out of clear thoughts to type. Usually at the end of a sentence or paragraph - never in the middle of a thought or sentence, but rarely at the end of a chapter unless I'm lucky.

Those times when I can continue until I reach the end of a chapter and stop for the day/night are very satisfying, though.

Azraelsbane · Aug 28, 2007

I write until I feel like passing out at the keyboard. I then either 1) pass out at the keyboard or 2) go to bed.

I always feel good if I finish a chapter by the end of the day. It's a nice accomplishment, but I find I'm more productive if I stop mid-chapter. I don't feel like I have an excuse for wasting time the next day (hey, I can take time off because I finished a chapter last night!), and I don't wake up to a blank screen.

Today is a good example. I'm here procrastinating instead of rewriting the scene I scrapped last night. Sucks when you write something in pov #1 only to realize it would be infinitely stronger in pov #2

Legionsynch · Aug 28, 2007

Usually, I try to finish the chapter or scene that I'm on. If not, I hope that where I'm stopping is enough of a cliffhanger that I can jump right back into it later.

Novelhistorian · Aug 28, 2007

I try to write anywhere between a thousand and twelve hundred words, but if it's taking more than four or five hours to do this, I stop, either from wrist fatigue or because I have to go get the kids or make dinner. When I have the luxury of time to decide my stopping point, I make sure I know at least the next thought I want to write down, maybe the general point of the scene. Since I don't use an outline, I don't want to map everything out too much in my head, but I take comfort in knowing the overall direction I'm heading.

Sometimes, though, I have no clue where I'm going and feel that I've headed down a blind alley. When things are going well, I trust that the solution will occur to me, and often it does--on a walk or in the shower.

Stew21 · Aug 28, 2007

seun said:
I go for leaving it in the middle so I know exactly what's happening the next day.

Ernest Hemingway, in A Moveable Feast, said he did this as well. Leaving off where he knew he could pick up the next day. He always stopped when he knew what was going to happen next.

seun · Aug 28, 2007

Stew21 said:
Ernest Hemingway, in A Moveable Feast, said he did this as well. Leaving off where he knew he could pick up the next day. He always stopped when he knew what was going to happen next.

I'm in good company

ChaosTitan · Aug 28, 2007

MidnightMuse said:
I stop when I get interrupted, realize what time it is and that I'm late for something, or run out of clear thoughts to type. Usually at the end of a sentence or paragraph - never in the middle of a thought or sentence, but rarely at the end of a chapter unless I'm lucky.

I'm the same way.

I prefer ending mid-scene. If I do end at the close of a chapter, I find it more difficult to get started the next time I sit down. Mid-scene allows me to jump right back into things.

JoNightshade · Aug 28, 2007

I never thought about this. I guess I don't have a preference. I do both.

Sometimes, my brain keeps writing even after I'm "done" for the day. Last night I left the keyboard a bit frustrated with a scene. I was in bed when suddenly it all came together. I mumbled, "Be back in a minute" to my husband and went into the living room to write down a couple of key paragraphs. Then I turned out the light and stumbled back to the bed, suddenly realizing that I was only half awake. It was 12:45; I had been in bed, probably asleep, for an hour and a half.

I haven't yet had the courage to peek at those paragraphs this morning. I'm dreading opening up my notebook to find a bunch of nonsense.

The Grift · Aug 28, 2007

I stop when I'm too drunk to hit one key at a time anymore.

Barring that, when I sit down to write, I usually stop when I have to do something else. Every now and then, I stop because of physical discomfort. I dont tend to put myself in the most comfortable writing positions. Or I might stop if I have gotten a significant chunk down (1k words or so) and now I'm just staring at a blinking cursor.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 28, 2007

Stop

seun said:
So you could literally be in the middle of a word when your timer goes?

I can be. But stopping in the middle of a word is not a bad thing at all, in my opinion. At least you don't have to sit and wonder what to write when you come to the next session.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 28, 2007

The Grift said:
I stop when I'm too drunk to hit one key at a time anymore.

I have trouble hitting one key at a time when I'm sober.

Your writing sessions - where you finish

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