Meagan Spooner
Absolutely brilliant. This is the sci fi I’ve been waiting for! Action, romance, twists and turns–this book has it all!

Beth Revis, New York Times best-selling author of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

Meagan Spooner
2017-11-06T11:42:38-05:00

Beth Revis, New York Times best-selling author of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

Absolutely brilliant. This is the sci fi I’ve been waiting for! Action, romance, twists and turns–this book has it all!
"A literally breathtaking archaeological expedition. Spooner and Kaufman prove once again that no one does high-stakes adventure shenanigans like they do."

E. K. Johnston, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Star Wars: Ahsoka

Meagan Spooner
2017-11-06T11:44:34-05:00

E. K. Johnston, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Star Wars: Ahsoka

"A literally breathtaking archaeological expedition. Spooner and Kaufman prove once again that no one does high-stakes adventure shenanigans like they do."
One of the most intense, thrilling, and achingly beautiful stories I’ve ever read. Kaufman and Spooner will break your heart with skilled aplomb, and you’ll thank them for it. Absolutely incredible! If I have to, I will come to your house and shove this book into your hands!

Marie Lu, New York Times best-selling author of the Legend trilogy

Meagan Spooner
2017-11-06T11:48:19-05:00

Marie Lu, New York Times best-selling author of the Legend trilogy

One of the most intense, thrilling, and achingly beautiful stories I’ve ever read. Kaufman and Spooner will break your heart with skilled aplomb, and you’ll thank them for it. Absolutely incredible! If I have to, I will come to your house and shove this book into your hands!
With rich, complex characters and a dynamic—and dangerous—new world, THESE BROKEN STARS completely transported me.

Jodi Meadows, author of the Incarnate series

Meagan Spooner
2017-11-06T12:09:41-05:00

Jodi Meadows, author of the Incarnate series

With rich, complex characters and a dynamic—and dangerous—new world, THESE BROKEN STARS completely transported me.
Intense and absorbing, Skylark transported me to a world of magic and danger unlike anything I’ve read before. I loved Lark, and was riveted by her journey of survival and self-discovery. Dark, original, and beautiful, this is a novel you don’t want to miss.

Veronica Rossi, author of UNDER THE NEVER SKY

Meagan Spooner
2017-11-06T12:13:28-05:00

Veronica Rossi, author of UNDER THE NEVER SKY

Intense and absorbing, Skylark transported me to a world of magic and danger unlike anything I’ve read before. I loved Lark, and was riveted by her journey of survival and self-discovery. Dark, original, and beautiful, this is a novel you don’t want to miss.
Skylark's rich narrative and plucky heroine will transport you into a mesmerizing and horrifying world.

New York Times bestselling author Carrie Jones

Meagan Spooner
2017-11-27T09:17:02-05:00

New York Times bestselling author Carrie Jones

Skylark's rich narrative and plucky heroine will transport you into a mesmerizing and horrifying world.
With its blend of dystopian, steampunk, and generally fantastical elements, Spooner's follow up is even stronger and more gripping as the debut and is sure to ensnare further loyal readers.

Booklist (Starred Review)

Meagan Spooner
2017-11-27T10:01:57-05:00

Booklist (Starred Review)

With its blend of dystopian, steampunk, and generally fantastical elements, Spooner's follow up is even stronger and more gripping as the debut and is sure to ensnare further loyal readers.
This intriguing dystopian adventure's depiction of the stand this strong female protagonist takes against the horrors of her world is fast-paced, compelling, and un-put-downable.

VOYA

Meagan Spooner
2017-11-27T10:05:07-05:00

VOYA

This intriguing dystopian adventure's depiction of the stand this strong female protagonist takes against the horrors of her world is fast-paced, compelling, and un-put-downable.
Once again, the worldbuilding is superb, the characters fully fleshed out and intriguing, the battles riveting, and the edge-of-the seat suspense compelling. Teens looking for a well-written dystopian adventure with steampunk elements in the magical machines created by the Architects will enjoy spending time with Lark and her companions.

VOYA Magazine, starred review

Meagan Spooner
2017-11-27T10:27:43-05:00

VOYA Magazine, starred review

Once again, the worldbuilding is superb, the characters fully fleshed out and intriguing, the battles riveting, and the edge-of-the seat suspense compelling. Teens looking for a well-written dystopian adventure with steampunk elements in the magical machines created by the Architects will enjoy spending time with Lark and her companions.
An extremely entertaining tale of past, present and future leaving the question: where does humanity stand when the best laid plans backfire?

Children's Literature

Meagan Spooner
2017-11-27T10:29:04-05:00

Children's Literature

An extremely entertaining tale of past, present and future leaving the question: where does humanity stand when the best laid plans backfire?
A haunting and romantic exploration of love and what sacrifices come with freedom.


Marie Lu

Meagan Spooner
2017-11-27T15:17:04-05:00

Marie Lu

A haunting and romantic exploration of love and what sacrifices come with freedom.
Amazing. That one word describes the whole book.

VOYA

Meagan Spooner
2017-11-27T15:18:24-05:00

VOYA

Amazing. That one word describes the whole book.
Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner prove they are two living goddesses of writing, creating two compelling worlds with high stakes and gripping emotions.

Sarah Rees Brennan, New York Times bestselling author of the Demon's Lexicon trilogy and the Lynburn Legacy series

Meagan Spooner
2020-08-11T09:05:59-05:00

Sarah Rees Brennan, New York Times bestselling author of the Demon's Lexicon trilogy and the Lynburn Legacy series

Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner prove they are two living goddesses of writing, creating two compelling worlds with high stakes and gripping emotions.
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Meagan Spooner

Wisdomous Wednesday: Stop in the Middle of

Wisdomous Wednesday is a weekly series of posts with advice about writing ranging from craft to navigation through the publishing world. If you have some wisdomous thoughts you’d like to share here, don’t hesitate to contact me. I love advice from other writers!

I think one of the hardest things about writing is getting started. There’s something about the blank page that is pretty scary–not in an “it’s gonna eat my face” way, but in a “now you have to prove things” way, and a “everyone’s expecting you to be awesome” way. Even harder than getting started at the beginning is getting started on a new scene after stopping a project for a while. You don’t have the excitement of first lines and unlimited potential to get you going.

Today’s advice is, yet again, for people who struggle to keep momentum on projects from “Once upon a time” until “and they lived happily ever after.” (Can you tell that that used to be my biggest problem? I have about thirty ways to help with it.)

Stop Writing in the Middle of a Scene

It’s pretty simple. Instead of getting to the end of your chapter or the end of your scene and stopping there for the day, find the most exciting part of what you’re writing and stop there. Even if you’re ACHING to keep going. If you know you’re going to stop in the next half hour or so, just quit when it’s super exciting. (Here I use “exciting” not necessarily to mean action scenes, but just something you’re really enjoying writing something, whether it’s a romantic scene, an action scene, a description you’ve been dying to write, etc.) You’ll come back to it the next day and want to dive right in, rather than sit there staring at the next chapter title going “Okay, now what?”

My favorite side effect of this is that when you stop in the middle of a scene you’re really into, your brain will stay with it and keep turning it over, even subconsciously. More ideas will flow even when you’re away from your project, keeping you eager to return to it and possibly even offering paths forward in the manuscript that you hadn’t thought of before.

Some writers take this so far as to stop mid-sentence. I tend to find that a bit frustrating, myself, as I can never remember what the second half of the sentence was supposed to be. And I always believe it was going to be something TOTALLY BRILLIANT, if only I could just remember what I was thinking. But try it both ways and see what works best for you!

Today’s advice comes via the man himself, Ernest Hemingway. He said: “The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day … you will never be stuck … That way your subconscious will work on it all the time. But if you think about it consciously or worry about it you will kill it and your brain will be tired before you start.”

Typical. I spend five hundred words trying to explain it and he does it in a few sentences. Some day I’ll learn to be concise!

But just, you know. Not today.


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9 Responses to “Wisdomous Wednesday: Stop in the Middle of”

  1. Jess says:

    I’ve tried to do this thing, but whenever I come back to my story, I tend to forget what I was meant to write, and what I was trying to get across and yeah. :-/

    • Meagan says:

      It helps if you’re writing every day–harder to forget in the span of one day! But yeah, I have had moments where I forget what I was meant to be doing. I think for me, though, the moments that I’m sitting there not knowing how to get started on a new scene outweigh the moments I’ve forgotten where I was going.

  2. Heather says:

    I like the title of this post. I see what you did there! 😛
    I’ve tried stopping in the middle of an exciting scene, but I hate leaving things unfinished, and by the next day I’ve usually forgotten where I was going. Maybe this works for people with slightly better memories.

    • Meagan says:

      Hah, thanks! I was a bit worried people would just think I was sloppy, so good to know it wasn’t a total miss. 😉

      This usually works best for me when it’s a scene that I’ve been looking forward to writing for a long time, so I’m really familiar with what I want to do with it. But yeah, it’s definitely not going to work with everyone’s styles!

  3. Sarah says:

    I tend to stop in the middle of a scene, and scrawl a few lines to myself to remind myself where I was going with it. Sometimes it even works 🙂

  4. Phil says:

    This is great advice! I know another writer who writes early in the morning before work. To get her brain going, the night before, she will write the first sentences of the next morning’s work. It was added motivation to get up early. It’s like a writing cliffhanger for your brain!

  5. I hate stopping in the middle of a sentence, too. I always forget what I was going to write next! But really great advice about stopping in the middle of a scene!

  6. jeff king says:

    Great advice…
    During composing I never lack motivation or words to put on paper… now revision, it sucks the life out of me, probably because I am a weak writer and I struggle to learn how to make it right while I revise.

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