Tuesday, April 13, 2010

When to stop....and where...

Last night I stopped writing in the middle of a scene. I often do, it saves me the "blank page doldrums" that can somehow take a perfectly normal-length morning and make it disappear without producing a single word. But last night I wasn't ready to stop writing. I quit because the story was dragging me in a direction that flummoxed me.


I know this happens to every writer now and then. It's happening to me more and more often. I think it means that I am finally past the point where I am thinking about craft--or anything else--while I write. It feels more like I am watching the characters, following them around.

I went back and reread it the moment I got up this morning and it now seems inevitable. Of course. Nothing else could have happened.

So: conscious effort-0
Getting myself out of the way-1

2 comments:

tinkandalissa said...

Thank you for this post. It's always reassuring to see someone as accomplished as you having the same kind of writing struggles as us newbies. I love reading about other writer's processes.
I can't wait for the next installment in this series!!

kathleen duey said...

Hello! yes, the process stays agonizingly processy for everyone I think. I have heard a lot of writers speak and not one has ever pretended to have figured it out--and it is different for everyone, too.

Hope your work is going well...thanks for your kind words about mine.

k