NaNoWriMo Writers: Focus, and ‘Keep Your Eyes on Yonder Pine Tree’

Do not let how much someone else has written affect what you write

Tom Hanks’s favorite typewriter model, the Smith-Corona Silent, highlighting a frequent saying from the first Alabama governor I worked for, the late Gov. Guy Hunt (R-1987–1993).

Attention NaNoWriMo writers: Congratulations! Good on each of you for standing up to your doubts and anxieties about such a vigorous process. To write a novel in one month is the ultimate challenge. What is the best way to get as much written as you can this month?

Stay FOCUSED!

Set the proper perspectives and keep them focused in your mind

Remember, you must “fire your editor” when working on a first draft. No one writes a pristine first draft that’s ready for querying. Get your story’s concepts in your head, heart, and spirit onto your pages. Your first draft will not be perfect.

Keep in mind an Ernest Hemingway saying. “The first draft of anything is sh**.”

Not the most inspiring comment, but through time, from writer after writer, the quote has proven itself 99.99999 percent true.

In 2022, you will not have a work-in-progress to revise into something greater if you do not stay disciplined and also keep the editor in you away from your pages.

Keep your eye on yonder pine tree