When you are writing your novel, and you cannot sit at the computer that long

Well when I start to nod off when I am working on the computer, I get up and walk around or do some stretch exercises or go outside and have a smoke. Whatever, I don't sit at the computer and suffer because why bother. It isn't that important that you should feel uncomfortable. And when this happens you can't concentrate as good and may make mistakes anyways, so again, why bother. The work isn't going anywhere, running away, so go back to it again when you feel more energetic and alert. You should be enjoying this time that you are writing a book.

I seldom get the chance to work on my novel regularly so don't know what I would do in this situation but have also noticed I have a more difficult time working on that particularly on the computer - there are too many distractions such as oh I'll just take a short break and see what's going on in my email or myLot :( I have found I still do my best writing with pen and paper - only thing is my handwriting is horrid so I'll write and write and write but then before I write the next 'part' I will type what I wrote onto the computer. It's extra work but it's been more effectent for me.

I am not quite so rigid as that. I allot time to my writing but when the muse has flown, for me, she is flown and no amount of trying to force her to return will work. Mind you I sit for hours in front of my computer every day anyway, checking on my sites, writing on my lot, doing homework on my degree which I am studying for online, and working on the internet and keeping up the maintenance on that also. Writing is something that flows out of me when it is ready to. It is not something that I can force to adhere to a schedule or something that I can arbitrarily stop once the muse has returned. I am compelled to write sometimes and sometimes I loose the thread of the story for a while and am left to pick at it until inspiration returns.

I find that when I am in the writing zone, I can't stop my fingers and brain working. Writing isn't something that you can just force, you have to be in the mood for it. If you restrict the amount of time you spend on your writing, then you can actually end up causing yourself stress because the words may not flow very well. This is why a lot of students struggle to complete assignments.

i never write in my computer.. and i never sit to write... i always have a notebook in my bag or a recorder.... may be beacuse i dont have a order... i'm mess

I do all my original riting by pen and paper. I know it's old-fashioned but I feel it's part of the creative process. The flow of ideas from the brain matches the flow of ink to the paper's surface. Then I nomally do a first edit, again with pen and paper. At this point I will start to commit to the omniscient computer but by now it feels like a job or chore rather than creativity!

your surpose to get up and move around ever so often just leave the page open then go back to it ya might have to reread what you have wrote to get back idea of where you were going with it. Never good to set that long if you feel ill. am not writing a book but just being here for hours I have to move I go water or something in between and then I can leave it all day and come back in the evening!

Don't make yourself suffer at the keyboard. Take a walk. Grab a notepad and write long hand if you must get it out. The screen can be evil sometimes and drain your inspiration right out of you. There is a reason some authors only write long hand and have a secretary type it, technology can hamper creativity. Use an organic medium to write and you may get a better story. This is the same reason I always edit in hard copy because I feel liberated from the chains of technology.

When I wrote my nearly 500 page manuscript a few years ago I stayed with it for hours and hours and hours. In my case I felt like the story was writing itself so I did not experience; "The head nodding off, glassy, eyed screen from another planet" scenario you describe. I have been writing professionally for years and the focused approach works for me. When my brain does get numb I go downstairs and either go outside, watch television or delve into a favorite role playing game to give my 'thinker' a rest. So far I have never lost the flow...and when I have ideas for new writing pieces I have an ideas file in Word that I jot them down in. That way I can go back and develop them when I choose to. Happy writing...whatever your style. Raia

I schedule for another time. You're rubbing off on me, I started to write a novel. Fictional and far-fetched, but interesting just the same. Since my accident, if my back, neck or shoulders start to hurt, I get off the internet. I find if I add a min. every day, then I can really stretch it to a decent amount of time. Take care.

I sit to type my story until the climax... and its not finish. I just confuse how to choose the best ending. Writing story is quiet difficult for me, even the begin is easy. I'm still learning how to make a good story... arrggG!!! I wrote some story but not yet finish, and everytime i'm gonna continue them, i have no idea to finish them. I never feel afraid if i leave them..............

I have written one novel, I am now on my third rewrite, however the computer is unplugged that it is on. It is on my Mac, I do one chapter of a rewrite, however I always finish a chapter when I am working on a novel. I never place time on it because the words will come as the y are supposed to. Ainge Just so you know I am working on 2 novels right now on my lap top and I have about 5 jobs.

I try to stay there and get as much done as possible as I am afraid I will lose my momentum and the thoughts that are tumbling in my head.but sometimes you just have to quit and come back another time as your body is rebelling with your mind. So then I just give up and go on to bed. Then I tackle it the next day. I will feel refreshed then and able to think more clearly.

For me, when I get tired, I stand and move around a few. Then I look for a drink with caffeine in it. When I return to my computer, I continue to write until I have at least finished the chapter, and then I will call it a night. I find it better to make it to that point and then continue the next day.

Wow! Commendable of you to be writing a book. I have always wanted to start... in fact I have started. I had a trilogy planned and was typing the first chapter for a few days then I sort of abandoned the whole project. :( Why do you start falling asleep after 30 min? Are you just tired? Or does this happen whatever you are doing? Because otherwise, if you are really INTO writing, the more you write, the more you don't feel like stopping. If it is just one of those down days, give yourself a break. Come back another time refreshed.;)

Hi suspenseful. If I realize sitting at the computer is going to be difficult, for whatever reason, but I'm in the 'novel mood', I get out my old walkman recorder and strap it to me. Since I'm in the position to do so, whatever I'm doing, I carry my walkman with me and just start chattering. With the recorder button on, I rattle on...speaking the novel. Sometimes, depending on the situation, the words come out quicker, as rapidly as the thought process, and I don't loose the train of thought. As I speak, the thought process or memory continues to process, going into the recorder faster than my fingers would be able to keep up if I were typing on the computer. Then, again depending on the mood, I can transcribe what I spoke, making sure I get through the complete thought process. When I'm sitting at the computer, if I find me nodding off, or going into that glassy eyed state, I make sure I leave the thought process at a point where I can just pick it back up again. I never worry about 'getting back to it'. It's always there...waiting to be let out.

The first thing I ask is are you setting unrealistic goals? Maybe that 45 minutes needed to be broken up. If you're going glassy eyed and your head is nodding off, maybe you need to do shorter sittings. Another thing. You said "you need at least that amount of time to get it right." Do you rewrite as you go along, or wait until the perfect sentence comes out of your head before you type it? Maybe you're putting too much pressure on yourself. Maybe instead of making yourself get each sentence down right, just write the story and then go back and rewrite. As for me, I use pen and paper, even if I'm doing a rewrite. I'll type the draft, print it out, then rewrite by hand whatever needs polishing. Maybe it sounds like the long way around, but I've tried typing everything but it interferes with my creative flow. The other day I just didn't feel like writing. I was stressing over other things that should be done like vacuuming and laundry, and I was feeling yucky. Fighting a cold or something. I told myself that I had to apply my butt to a chair and write for at least an hour. If by that hour I was still feeling yucky and I couldn't get anything down, then I could give myself permission to stop. Usually what happens is that once I start writing, I get into a nice flow, and then I have the opposite problem. I have trouble stopping. I also stop my writing session in the middle of a scene. That way when I start writing again, I'm not so blocked. Usually, by the time I return to the scene, I've worked it out in my head so many times that it's nothing to write it. I wish you the best, and I hope you will keep me posted with your writing.

I think that it is important to write often Maybe every day or every other day. but you don't always know what you are going to say. But if you make yourself sit there than at least something might pop into your head. WHen I do try to write it is about an hour.

Before I learn computer, I used to write stories in a paper. I made a lot of correction and modifications. so there ware a lot of scoring, insertion and overwriting. After finishing it, I use to copy it in another paper. While copying, new ideas will crop up and again, same process continues. After acquiring knowledge in computer operation,I got a lot of relief which saves my time. So I am now in a position to sit more than half an hour in the computer without tiredness. I will finish short stories at a strech. I have not tried novels. I hope I can save time in drafting the novel in computer comparing with hand written.

I have the opposite problem! I could sit for hours and type...just can't think of what to type about or write about!