Hello, fellow writers. A question...When taking a break, do you stop at certain spots where you still have a flow going or do you write until you are spent? I know what the write answer is (gotcha...I know it's "right"), but one thing I do is when I know I HAVE to stop for the moment, if an idea is pretty strong in my mind, I'll stop even without being done, because I KNOW I'll be back in a strong flow once I continue. If it's something I'm concerned about forgetting, I won't do that. I also don't like to stop when I'm at a "good" stopping point or when I think I've hit "writer's block," because sometimes, even though it's only very slight, it slows me down on coming back to it. This system has worked pretty well for me, but how about you? If all this makes sense. :)
Screenwriting : While Writing Your Screenplay, What's a Good Time For You To "Stop" For Breaks? by Robert People
While Writing Your Screenplay, What's a Good Time For You To "Stop" For Breaks?
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I sometimes work on my screenplays at my "day job" during lunch breaks so I stop when I'm forced to! Not a problem because when I'm home I can pick up where I left off and it does not affect my flow of ideas. This is because I write a good outline at home while I have all the time I need. I generally take breaks when I realize I have not eaten for a while and my stomach drowns out the Pandora! (or when I start going cross-eyed from needing to sleep. I'm a night owl too so I do the bulk of my writing when I'm up late!
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Hi, Lisa. Sorry I'm just getting back to you on this. Thanks for responding. That's similar to what I do most of the time.
Though different people work in different ways, as someone who does this full time I have a daily page quota (five pages) and usually quit when I hit that (though I will finish a scene or maybe even write a little more if the juices are flowing). I never write until I'm spent, because for me once I'm exhausted I need to rest... and I've learned that those days where I wrote 20 pages I ended up burned out for the next few days... and end up writing fewer pages in a week! Better to be slow and steady than do too much and burn out. I also like to quit the day with ideas on what to write next, so that the following day I know where I'm going to start. Everyone works differently, and part of writing is figuring out the method that works best (ie: produces the best results).