log-in times out while writing story!

Is this typical behavior? I was signed in. I began writing a story but multitasked, so my progress was intermittent for over an hour. When I paused the story (not finished yet, just needed to stop with plans to resume later) and submitted it, I discovered I had been logged out and received a login prompt window? The long story draft is now missing?? Can I adjust my settings to prevent this rapid timeout?