Keep the momentum going: How stopping mid-paragraph will keep your writing pace steady

You're nearing the end of a chapter. After an hour of creative juices just pouring from your fingertips, you prepare to close out another moment in the lives of your characters. At this point the excitement has taken hold of you so much that you aren't even sitting down anymore. As you stand and peck away the last few sentences, you breathe a sigh of relief. Finished. Time to start the next chapter. 

Tomorrow. 

Or, in a few days. 

Or maybe next week. 

For those of us that have the uncanny ability to procrastinate ourselves right into a river of laziness, finishing a chapter can push the pause button on our writing. Sometimes for days. 

Well, here's what I've started doing. And it's helped immensely. 

Instead of closing out the chapter and running the risk of experiencing "celebratory hiatus," stop your writing before you reach the end. Mid-sentence. 

This leaves your motivation to finish at an all new high. You know EXACTLY how you're going to finish, and you cannot wait until the opportunity to do so. But here's the catch:

Have your next few opening sentences of the following chapter already prepared before you close out the unfinished preceding chapter. That way, as you close out one chapter, your preparation carries you right into the next. Let Lady Inspiration take the wheel from there. 

Hope it helps, I've found that...

-John