So today's tip is based from a writer who can write novels. He is considered legendary in the world of publishing, and writing, and his advice is not to be taken lightly. Today's advice is from Stephen King, and in his published work A Memoir of the Craft. His advice from the book applies when a writer is writing their novel during NaNoWriMo:
DON'T LOOK BACK
Yes folks, that is key when you are writing a novel in one month. Don't go back to the beginning Just keep writing and writing until you feel you have finished the story. Now you don't have a completed novel, you have a finished draft. Don't look back at the story.
This is the reason as to why you shouldn't look back at the draft. If you keep going back to the beginning, you end up editing. Before you know it, you end up changing every single sentence in the story, and you will will not hit the finish line. I normally have the habit of editing as I go, but during NaNoWriMo I have to break that habit. You need to break it too.
If you want, after you type up each chapter you can print out each one, and keep them in a small folder. Once you finish NaNoWriMo, don't look at that draft for at least one month, or more. Some authors I know will leave their draft for three months, then when they open it back up, it looks so horrible to them that they end up changing so much, and before they know it half of their story is covered in red. So don't look back, just finishing writing the darn thing.
I am not the only one who explains about not looking back. Check out this post from New York Times best selling author Veronica Roth of Divergent trilogy.
