When do you take a break in your writing?

Say you've just written a lot for your story, and you've decided to take a break. Where do you leave it? I tend to just stop randomly in a paragraph so I can easily tell where I am just by reading a few more sentences up rather than leaving it on a chapter and having to read everything to catch my bearings. Where do you stop?

 

Well, I usually wait till I finish a chapter, otherwise any attempt at R&R will be in vain because I'll feel uneasy leaving things mid-way. Also, since I work based on chapter-based plot outlines, I don't feel the need to go back and look at things, since the outlines tell me exactly where I am. I leave the reviewing until the end of a chapter or the entire book.

 

I just write and stop when it is done - don't give it that much thought,

 

When I write and I want to stop I usaully stop after the current description or dialouge is finished.

 

It varies. I don't always finish a chapter either.

 

I start each writing session by reviewing and sometimes revising the previous session's work, so when I start adding new material I know where I am and I know the tone and style I'm looking for. So I can stop pretty much anywhere.

 

Wherever I feel like it. If I'm too tired or I'm starting to lose interest then I'll break at the end of the paragraph -- unless it's a really tense scene, then I'll continue to the end so as not to interrupt the flow -- or at the end of the conversation. Unless the next chapter is an immediate continuation of the previous scene then I often force myself to take a break (even if it's just ten minutes to check my email and to make a cup of tea) at the end of a chapter.

 

I never neatly wrap up after a chapter or scene, because then it's easy to get Great Blank Word Doc syndrome when I pick it up again. I'd recommend writing at least a paragraph or two of the next scene you plan to write before you stop. This way it's easier to resume where you left off at your next sitting.

 

I'm more familiar with writing short stories than novels, but I'm working on my first novel now. I'll break in the middle of a paragraph and come back to it later like I never left, I'm pretty good at just putting a task on pause mentally. About the only rule I have for myself is to not stop in mid sentence, because that all ways confuses me when I come back.

 

I normally wait until I finished the sentence and make sure that I know that I can easily continued off but I tried and get a chapter done, but with tense scenes I have to finished them off.

 

i don't really 'decide' to take a break...

i just take one whenever i run out of things to write, or if something life-wise intrudes, or if i'm falling asleep over the keyboard/notepad/whatever... and i never give any thought to where it is i'm stopping, as i have no problem picking up wherever i left off...

 

I can quit wherever I happen to a.run out of inspiration b.realize it's late and I should go to bed c.realize I have to think some more on how to develope a certain scene d.just lack concentration.

 

I usually stop at the end of a paragraph, or when things in that part of the story starts becoming less interesting, for example, the character goes to sleep.

 

I finish till I just run out of inspiration, or I feel as though I have gotten enough down.

I also stop when I feel like I will just write sluggishly, making up small details as I go just so I'll keep writing so that I can reach the big points I want to get to.

 

I try to break at scenes at the very least. It's hard to jump back in mid scene for me so I try to wrap things up a bit before putting the laptop away.

 

I like to finish scenes or chapters, but it isn't a hard rule. If I need to I'll stop mid-paragraph.

 

Sometimes I stop mid-sentence, other times I finish a paragraph. Ironically I rarely stop at chapter breaks!

 

I stop after I complete a scene or if I'm tired and writing less enthusiastically. If I have a clear idea what I want to happen next I write a few sentences to remind myself for when energy returns.