Stopping Point

[sr71plt]

TheeGoatPig's "starting point" thread flipped into my mind a related issue I think might be interesting to discuss here. How do you section off your writing sessions and why?

I often see threads about how much someone tries to write a day, and they usually talk in terms of number of words. But I think more in terms of a transition point in the context of the work rather than wordage numbers. I almost always stick with a short story in a session until the story is completed. If I'm not satisfied with it, I go back to it in another session, but I always try to stick with the story arc to the end within the one session. Longer works, I try to stick with it to a natural transition point, usually a chapter end--although in the next session I might come back and extend the chapter worked on before.

So is it daily wordage goals or contextual chunks that rule your writing sessions?

 

[Stella_Omega]

I'm trying to change my 'chunks' habit, actually. I've always written to the end of an episode or a chapter, and then I have to figure out where we are going, when I next come back.

Someone recommended that I try stopping at a cliffhanger-- because I will be on fire to finish that bit, and then I can use the momentum to keep going...

Sounds plausible, anyway

 

[jomar]

TheeGoatPig's "starting point" thread flipped into my mind a related issue I think might be interesting to discuss here. How do you section off your writing sessions and why?

I often see threads about how much someone tries to write a day, and they usually talk in terms of number of words. But I think more in terms of a transition point in the context of the work rather than wordage numbers. I almost always stick with a short story in a session until the story is completed. If I'm not satisfied with it, I go back to it in another session, but I always try to stick with the story arc to the end within the one session. Longer works, I try to stick with it to a natural transition point, usually a chapter end--although in the next session I might come back and extend the chapter worked on before.

So is it daily wordage goals or contextual chunks that rule your writing sessions?

I would say contextual chunks more so than word count. Like you, I try to at least end on a transition point, completing a thought, if you will.

But I also write in shortish bursts at work, between this and that and instead of doing the other. Doing it this way I'll sometimes end with words and phrases to remind me where I'm going and in what tone if I have to quit the story and move on to work stuff.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I'm trying to change my 'chunks' habit, actually. I've always written to the end of an episode or a chapter, and then I have to figure out where we are going, when I next come back.

Someone recommended that I try stopping at a cliffhanger-- because I will be on fire to finish that bit, and then I can use the momentum to keep going...

Sounds plausible, anyway

I hate cliffhangers (even though I have technically written two of them ). I prefer to end things where they end, so that when I start the next part of the story it begins at its beginning (even if that happens to be its ending or middle ), and doesn't rely so much on the end of the last part.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Stopping right in the middle of a fuck...

i have a real problem with that!

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I write scenes. Then I write sequels. Followed by scene inlays (scenery). Then editing from top to bottom.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

It depends on what I'm writing. If I'm writing an article, I write the whole thing in one go. If I'm writing a story, I stop when I get tired and when I know what will happen next. Then, I go back to it the next day, and I pick up from there.

 

[sr71plt]

It depends on what I'm writing. If I'm writing an article, I write the whole thing in one go. If I'm writing a story, I stop when I get tired and when I know what will happen next. Then, I go back to it the next day, and I pick up from there.

I think knowing what happens next does determine for me a likely stopping point (although I must admit that my brain usually knows where the story is going even when my conscious doesn't, so sometimes if I just plunge ahead it will all work out). I do find though that if I'm in a quandary and it doesn't seem to be unfolding in a desired way, it's sometimes best to walk away from it and let my brain work with it for a while.

 

[Liar]

It's all dependent on my energy level. I write when I'm energized, and stop when I'm out.

I have stopped mid-sentence on occasion.

 

[KarennaC]

I usually set myself a time limit rather than a word count, because some days I can blast out 2500 words in an hour and a half, and other days it takes me three hours to come out with 400 words. The time limit is a minimum, and I nearly always go over it, but will stop if my thinking gets too fragmented or if there are too many interruptions. Right now, I'm not working while awaiting surgery, so I have plenty of time to write, but other things sometimes interfere.

I frequently stop in the middles of fucks, because those are hard to write.

 

[sr71plt]

I have stopped mid-sentence on occasion.

I only do that for the dinner bell.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

It's all dependent on my energy level. I write when I'm energized, and stop when I'm out.

I have stopped mid-sentence on occasion.

What is this I don't even

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

I think knowing what happens next does determine for me a likely stopping point (although I must admit that my brain usually knows where the story is going even when my conscious doesn't, so sometimes if I just plunge ahead it will all work out). I do find though that if I'm in a quandary and it doesn't seem to be unfolding in a desired way, it's sometimes best to walk away from it and let my brain work with it for a while.

Yes, I definitely see what you mean. I like to empty the well, so to speak, and then let it refill over night so that I can come back to it fresh. I think the unconscious plays a part in all that, though I'm not sure how to define it exactly.

 

[freshface]

I play with scenes while driving or swimming. I know it's ready to write when I wake up with whole paragraphs in place. A lot of my thesis came out fully formed at 3:00 AM, when I'd wake up with something to say.

 

[sr71plt]

Yes, I definitely see what you mean. I like to empty the well, so to speak, and then let it refill over night so that I can come back to it fresh. I think the unconscious plays a part in all that, though I'm not sure how to define it exactly.

My major problem with that is that my "overnight" usually gets filled with new stories unfolding.

When I started writing erotica not more than three years ago, the first story spun off from a scene I was writing for a mainstream mystery novel (I think the story exists here on Lit. at the first chapter of House on Park). Suddenly the scene started turning MM erotic when that wasn't where the plot thread was supposed to go at all. So I excised it and wrote it as part of a separate work. But from that time forward, the erotica short story set-ups started to just pour in (usually "overnight"). And yet I have to keep writing the longer mainstream works--and trying to blot of the newly arriving story long enough to make progress on the longer works. My mainstream work has been cut down by at least half as a result.

 

[sr71plt]

I play with scenes while driving or swimming. I know it's ready to write when I wake up with whole paragraphs in place. A lot of my thesis came out fully formed at 3:00 AM, when I'd wake up with something to say.

I rarely have any of the wording in place when I sit down. Just the concept of an opening, a hook or two, and a twist ending (which usually gets around to twisting a time or two more before I'm done). The words start coming on their own to fill out my overall concepts just by sitting down at the keyboard. Then it's more of a process of turning off the here/now and letting my mind exist inside the protagonist's head.

 

[driphoney]

I guess I haven't written enough to know what is 'usual' for me. I never, ever think of word count, that's for sure. I think I write until either ADD sets in, or someone or something distracts me. Lately, I write until I can't figure out how to make the story go forward and I have to stop and ponder.

 

[slyc_willie]

I've stayed up well into the dark morning hours working on a story simply because I couldn't bring myself to stop during a scene or chapter. I always try to find a natural pause in the story, be it after a sex scene, just before a sex scene, after a major revelation, whatever, if I know I'm not going to finish in one sitting. For the most part, I can already see where the story is going once I start it (but there are times when it gets away from me). Knowing where the story is going makes me eager to get it out, to transform the scenes in my head to words on the screen. I've done as much as 10,000 words in a single night, because I was that excited about the story.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

My major problem with that is that my "overnight" usually gets filled with new stories unfolding.

When I started writing erotica not more than three years ago, the first story spun off from a scene I was writing for a mainstream mystery novel (I think the story exists here on Lit. at the first chapter of House on Park). Suddenly the scene started turning MM erotic when that wasn't where the plot thread was supposed to go at all. So I excised it and wrote it as part of a separate work. But from that time forward, the erotica short story set-ups started to just pour in (usually "overnight"). And yet I have to keep writing the longer mainstream works--and trying to blot of the newly arriving story long enough to make progress on the longer works. My mainstream work has been cut down by at least half as a result.

So many stories to tell, so little time! I completely understand what you mean. I can't say I've experienced quite what you're describing. For whatever reasons, I am a bit one-track minded when writing and can only tackle one tale at a time. In any case, I like to know other people's methods and means of approaching writing. Some of it is a bit mysterious, some of it purely practical, and some of it magical.

 

[Darkniciad]

My stopping points are scene breaks or chapter ends. Word count was never really a consideration.

Up until about a week ago, I was happy to finish a couple of paragraphs in recent days

 

[_Lynn_]

It's all dependent on my energy level. I write when I'm energized, and stop when I'm out.

I have stopped mid-sentence on occasion.

I write for a longer time when the words flow well. If I'm struggling, I stop. There have been times I stayed up all night to get the words out of my head. Others I quit after a sentence or two. The only time I aim for a set number of words per day is with NaNo.

My stopping point is when I close the document; mid-sentence, mid-scene, or mid-paragraph.

 

[YoursSINSerely]

I am so out of my league with you guys.

I have a day job outside of the house. I have a daughter who wants me to visit her three states away. I have a new grandson that's beautiful and I want to see him grow. I have a ton friends who call and send emails. I have sisters and a brother and nieces and nephews having babies and leaving the country and entering jail and losing their jobs and losing their houses and having operations and having accidents. I just want to go to the beach. Can you blame me?

Life is busy, busy, busy.

So, about the writing? If there is deadline, I get it done! If something else comes along, I get interupted.

Thanks for putting up with me.

 

[Liar]

I am so out of my league with you guys.

Bhah, outside of forum posts, I hardly write anything without a deadline, and some serious nagging, at gunpoint, these days.

 

[_Lynn_]

I am so out of my league with you guys.

I have a day job outside of the house. I have a daughter who wants me to visit her three states away. I have a new grandson that's beautiful and I want to see him grow. I have a ton friends who call and send emails. I have sisters and a brother and nieces and nephews having babies and leaving the country and entering jail and losing their jobs and losing their houses and having operations and having accidents. I just want to go to the beach. Can you blame me?

Life is busy, busy, busy.

So, about the writing? If there is deadline, I get it done! If something else comes along, I get interupted.

Thanks for putting up with me.

My time is my own. Often I will go a week without seeing another live person. I could go without a phone and no one would realize it. My life isn't the way I prefer it. But as someone close to me says, 'it is what it is'. That all means I can write when I want to, day or night.

 

[sr71plt]

I think I actually got more writing done when my life was regimented with full-time job(s) and children at home.