@JimE 

When you say where do they go, the forms gets stored within the configuration on the SharePoint list. If you are creating a form and saving it, you should be able to see those changes. I would recommend publishing the form instead of just using save to avoid any conflicting issues.

I did a quick test and didn't see any issues. I left and came back three different times without publishing and it was all there. This is scary and I would personally never, not publish the form, but that's just me.  If you don't want anyone messing with your form, create a test list first and then do your work there. It's easy enough to then export the complete form and import that to the correct list where users would input their data.

Hope that helps.

Thanks!