Write ON # 4 from Chris Mandeville

Editor’s Note: Following are the tips Chris Mandeville provided to those participating in NaNoWriMo and NaNoTRYMo during the last week of November, but they are excellent tips any time of year!

Write ON #4

Five Tips, Quotes and Exercises

Provided by Give! 2011 Collaborating Nonprofits

We've made it three-fourths of the way through November, NaNo-ers. It's been a long and arduous journey, and it's not over yet. Is your energy or enthusiasm flagging? If so, we hope the quotes and suggestions below inspire you and reinvigorate your NaNo efforts. Press on!

1. Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try. You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way. Dr. Seuss

Today is your day TO WRITE. Don't let ANYTHING stand in the way! 

--CHILDREN'S LITERACY CENTER

2. "I get everything all beautifully planned out and it has to go and rain." E.B. White in Charlotte’s Web 

If it feels like rain is ruining all your best laid plans, why not embrace the rain? Try welcoming whatever it is that's putting a damper on your plot, waylaying your characters, or washing away your carefully drawn world. Instead of fighting the problem or ignoring it, go with it! See where it takes you. This "rain" could be exactly what your novel-in-progress needs. If you don't end up loving the rain, you can always try a colorful umbrella.

--IMAGINATION CELEBRATION

3. One Man, an Inspiration by K. Chopera:

"He began his work and got his aim. He was alone, but he didn't lose his patience and most importantly his hope." From Stone Soup 2011, a publication of essays by participants of the Pikes Peak Library District's Adult Literacy and ESL Program 

In the last three weeks you began your work and got your aim. Now it's time to hang on to your patience and your hope for the final third of NaNo. Have faith and confidence: you can do it!

--PIKES PEAK LIBRARY DISTRICT ADULT LITERACY AND ESL

4. Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be. Shel Silverstein 

You have the power and the ability within you to reach your goals. But beware--right next to them are the doubts and the excuses. Be aggressive in pursuit of your goals, and shove aside anything gets in the way, especially the obstacles within you. They often seem the most formidable but they are actually the ones most within your control.

--UCCS LITERACY FOR LIFE

5. Want to double the speed you're racking up the word-count? It's simple: banish your inner editor. That means stop critiquing and second-guessing what you've just written, and leave the delete key alone. Shut out the voice of the perpetually unhappy critic who lives in your head, and replace it with a cheerleader who thinks you can do no wrong. If you keep your "editor's hat" in the drawer and your "writer's hat" firmly on your head, you'll be amazed how fast you complete your rough draft. But be careful not to lose your inner editor forever--when NaNo is over, take out that "editor's hat" and make your story shine.

--PIKES PEAK WRITERS

For more information about these nonprofit organizations and their collaboration in Give! 2011, please visit http://pikespeakwriters.com/html/give_2011.html.