So, I'm revising along last night - a word here, a sentence there, whoops, there went a paragraph - and the words are slowly disappearing. Then - BAM - my brain shuts down. Hate it when that happens . . . especially when I'm driving. Kidding, people, kidding! I hit my stopping point. There just comes a time in writing/editing/revising where my brain can do no more, no matter my motivation or my goals for the day. My brain just says STOP!!!
Now, do I ignore the voice in my head?? Do I press on, determined to finish the chapter?? Well, bad things happen when I ignore the voices in my head. Bad, bad, bad things happen. I've had perfectly reasonable and reliable characters go off the deep end when I ignore the voice shouting STOP in my head. Yes, stable and reliable characters sometimes doing something so totally off the wall that even I, the creator, go WTH!!!! as I do a read through at some later date in time. Yes, WTH!!! I mean, how does a perfectly stable and reliable character suddenly start dancing on the table at the bar . . . perfectly sober. It just doesn't happen. Trust me on that one. I need at least six drinks in me before I . . . oh, wait, sorry, how'd that happen??? What was I saying??
Oh, the stopping point. I have learned to stop when my mind gets too tired to write/edit/revise. I have learned that forcing the issue is not a good thing, not at all. The only thing that happens when I ignore that particular voice in my head, is that I create more work for myself later on.
Question - do you have a stopping point? Do you acknowledge or ignore that point? Do you keep on writing? Do you step away from the computer? What happens when you keep on writing?
S
p.s. you have to check out this blog by LitGirl01's cute puppy Miles. He's absolutely adorable . . . and he has his own blog. My dogs are so, so jealous. My cats just can't be bothered!
4 comments:
Funny! Mine is the exact opposite! It is when I am totally blocked and force myself to write that the best stuff pours out of me. I find that the really fun writing, when I am "in the groove" is the stuff I have to take out or rearrange when I edit. My stopping point are run onnnnnnnnns. When I find I am writing 45 "and then's" I know it's time to STOP.
I completely agree with you on the stopping point. For me, it's when I realize I've been watching women's golf for ten minutes instead of working on my writing. That's right. Women's. Golf. Puh-lease.
If I don't stop, I end up deleting 95 pages worth of crap and starting over. Yeah, it's better to stop before that point.
Like a margarita brain freeze, if ya don't stop editing at that point, you're in for more pain later on. :)
I absolutely have a stopping point. When I start writing something I KNOW I will delete, I just stop. What's the point?
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