A Sense of Doubt blog post #3858 - Writing Wednesday: Stop for the Day So You Know What's Next

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3858 - Writing Wednesday: Stop for the Day So You Know What's Next

I am going to try to write about writing for a while here in a continuing Wednesday feature that I have used before.

So far, I have this week and then the next two weeks' installments conceived. 

I hope I can keep it going for a few weeks.

My intention is that these will be short and this installment is a good model for that intention.

This week is about MOMENTUM and KEEPING THE ENGINES FIRED.

So, I have started writing again. Fiction. At least five days a week.

I have always believed that writing is about momentum. If a writer builds up a full head of steam in the engines, if the fires are stoked and continue to be stoked, then writing takes care of itself.

Real writers write. They grind away at it. They do not need to "wait" for the inspiration. They have the inspiration always. What they need is time and full steam ahead fired-up engines.

And once that engine is pumping those cogs and moving that train, then writing is easy, though also, often, a grind. It happens all the time. Little bits are conceived in the mind. Add-ons to the work in progress that can be popped into it at any time. That's the beauty of the computer. A few key strokes and something is added. No re-typing of the whole page, no literal cutting of paper and paste up of assorted parts.

So, if writing is going along well, if the momentum is achieved, then it needs to continue. The question is about what kills it.

Fields go fallow. If one is not writing nearly every day, then the fields of material, those add-ons, the next thing, those go fallow. That's why it has always been a big chore to jump start after a long hiatus. But the yearning to get to it van be built up by day-dreaming time to conceive of what to write.

And then, often, people write to a stopping point, which can kill momentum.

I say avoid the stopping point.

I have heard that some writers actually stop midsentence, so that they literally the next words that they will write when they sit back in the chair the next day to make more progress.

Leaving sentences unfinished aggravates my OCD. I can't do that.

Instead I just quit before closing out a scene. I know the next things I am going to write about, though maybe not literally the words.

And if I close out a scene during a daily session, then I forge ahead to the next one to get back to that liminal space between what has been cast into words and what's next.

Put simply. Quit when you know what's next, and then think about the next thing until seated again and continuing.

This method helps me keep those engines fired-up.


Thanks for tuning in.



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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2509.10 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 3723 days ago & DAD = #377days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.