3 Writing Tips: To Know When to Stop Writing…for the day…and how.

by: Ronovan

When the laptop falls off your sleeping body or maybe when your ‘other’ smashes it with a hammer? Sorry but I just can’t help but think of Yzma in The Emperor’s New Groove every time I say ‘smash it with a hammer’, Eartha Kitt had an awesome voice. I think we all have our own inner Yzma at times. And Eartha Kitt’s voice was purrrfect for the role. (Yes, I just went Adam West Batman on you.)

But when to stop writing is very important and will help you in how to start the next time you sit down as ready as you were when you left off writing the previous day.

1)      Leave yourself with ideas.

There is nothing worse than having worked so hard all the previous day only to sit down the next time and have nothing in your head to go with. You need to end your session with a good deal of material in your mind left. This way you will likely be thinking on it while away from your writing area and when you sit down next time you can immediately pick up where you left off and just let the creative juices flow. If you are concerned you will forget something, make a few quick notes to remind you so you have it ready to glance at when you sit down.

2)      Stop before exhaustion stops you.

Too many of us just don’t want to stop as those ideas are flowing, but the truth is some of those ideas aren’t going to be very sharp and you’ll have to fix them later, and you most likely won’t be able to really remember what all you did very well. So set time limits and stick to them. Also ending exhausted makes for a weary begin to the next day of writing.

 

3)      Set time limits and stick to them.

You need a break, you need structure. If you are working on a book, blogging, researching, submitting, and living, then you need to set some boundaries. Most people who write a book want to do it for a living. Keep it fun and creative but you need to keep it in check or it will burn you out.

I have been completely wiped out writing, had writer’s block, and just really been a wreck. I’ve written a 30,000 book in 24 hours and was literally unable to function for two days. You have to set limits. For me it was a bit of a necessity at that moment, and maybe I will explain that another day, but I should have stopped, and no, there was no deadline. It was a great feeling to have accomplished something like that but it also made it so I didn’t want to look at another piece of writing for quite some time.

One part of becoming a success at writing is to keep writing, and to keep writing you need to keep it fun both mentally and physically. How do some of you keep from getting burnt out?

You may also be interested in Writing Tips: Working Through Writer’s Doubt…Just Flip it 3 Ways.

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