How to Have a Successful JuNoWriMo, No Matter What!

Honorée Corder, author of twenty books (and counting!) kicks off our series of JuNoWriMo 2016 pep talks with a plan to make this month a successful one.

HonoreeCorderHeadshotCongratulations on your decision to embark on JuNoWriMo! Right now I am sure you are filled with the excitement that can only come with a shiny new project. Executed well, in 30 days you will be the proud owner of a completed manuscript. And right now, you might be feeling invincible… as though not a thing or person could possibly stand in your way or take you off course.

I do hope that is the case, but I know better than almost anyone that just about the moment I 100% commit to something, at almost exactly that same moment the universe conspires to test me. (How rude!)

I want to help you get from June 1 to June 30 with finesse, style, and ease. Let’s go ahead and set you up for super success so that no matter what happens you will crush it!

Number one: the goal. If you’re like me the goal isn’t just 50,000 words, you have a story or outline already percolating in the back of your mind that comes with a title or even an ending. But on the off-chance you don’t have a specific goal, go ahead and set one. Something like: Complete 50,000 words toward my manuscript by June 30th, or, Finish Game On! The Ultimate Guide to Getting All You Want from Your Life and Your Work (my current WIP).

Write your goal on a 3×5 card and look at it twice a day: right when you wake up, and right before you go to sleep.

Number two: the affirmation. What do you say when you talk to yourself? It might be good most of the time, but in the case of a big goal your self-talk game had better be tight! You absolutely must take your goal and put it in the form of an affirmation that gets you up early and keeps you up late. The thing with affirmations is we become what we focus on … and you want to become the proud owner of a 50,000 word manuscript in four short weeks, right? Our words are our wands, and your words can be used to serve you in a most amazing way. Let’s take the two above goals and turn them into rock-solid, positive, present-tense affirmations, shall we?

I easily and effortlessly write 50,000 words by June 30th.
With ease and grace, I write Game On! by June 30th.

You can even add some even more powerful language to these two affirmations:

I am so happy and grateful I wrote 50,000 words for JuNoWriMo!
Game On! {insert your book title} flowed from my fingertips and was completed early with ease.

Write each affirmation as though it has already happened and you’re darn excited and grateful about it. I know, affirmations have gotten a bad rap, but any time you’re saying anything you’re actually affirming something (and usually without intention). I highly encourage you to affirm what you want to happen, on purpose. Trust me on this one, and you can do it privately so no-one else will know.

And just like your goal, I again suggest a 3×5 card you read, review, visualize and say out loud twice a day.

Number three: the daily challenge. We all know 50,000 words in 30 days if 1,667 words per day. Wouldn’t it be amazing to reach the goal early? I thought so!

Here are three things to ensure you exceed your goal by June 30th:

Action 1: Calculate how long it takes you to write 2,000 words. Yup, that’s right: I want you running ahead of your daily goal word count goal right from the start. Two thousand words per day buys you six extra days (and they might come in handy when a commitment tester shows up). You’ll finish your project ahead of time, and I promise you that is going to feel great!

Action 2: Schedule what time you’re going to write each day. I write every morning from 6-7 a.m. Guess who is bothering me at 6 a.m.? Not a single person! My family is still dreaming, I never get a call that early, and even email is sparse at that hour. On days when I happen to have a conflict (early flight, late night), I don’t skip my hour … I move it! If your life allows for a consistent daily writing time, great. If it doesn’t, plan the best you can but back up your plan with a personal rule. Mine is: I don’t go to bed without writing for at least 15 minutes. It almost doesn’t matter how tired, cranky, or sick I am, when it’s time to write, I write. You’ll note I said almost. Because sometimes I’m just too tired, cranky, or sick (I know, hard to believe … but true!) and I give myself a pass. Because I’m consistent, just like you’ll be, at putting up more words than you’ll need, a pass won’t have the impact it might have otherwise.

Action 3: Enroll your important VIPs. I’m getting ready for a big event in New York City next month. I’m on a super strict eating and exercise program (affectionately referred to asThe Death Diet and Death Workouts A and B, respectively. I’m only sort of kidding.). But sometimes my family shows me love in food by picking up a little slice of pizza here or a Starbucks there. I’ve had to enroll them in “mom eats only chicken and broccoli at this time, and drinks only water and unsweet tea.” If I just tried to work in secret and isolation, I wouldn’t have their support or their encouragement (and I’d probably consume lots of non Death Diet goodies). Tell your family and friends you must focus on the task at hand, just for the month of June. So you might be turning in early in order to get up to write. Or you might forego Netflix binge watching each day until you’ve got your words under your belt. Ask them to help you stay focused and to check in periodically to see how you’re doing. Tell them you wouldn’t mind if they bought you a new MacBook Pro (or a cookie) to help you reach your goal, and be sure to dedicate your book to them (people really dig that).

When you inevitably come upon a person, thing, or event that threatens to, or actually does, take you off track, no worries! Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back at it! You are far more capable of seemingly super human word counts than you might be giving yourself credit for — so on the off chance you find yourself at the beginning of week 4 and you’ve only pencilled out a few hundred words, you can still use my suggestions to finish on time. No matter what, you’ve got this! You can absolutely successfully complete JuNoWriMo, I believe in you!

Best wishes for a fun and successful JuNoWriMo!

Honorée Corder the author of 19 books, including Prosperity for Writers: A Writer’s Guide to Creating Abundance, Vision to Reality: How Short Term Massive Action Equals Long Term Maximum Results, If Divorce is a Game, These are the Rules, The Divorced Phoenix, as well as The Successful Single Mom book series.

Her mission is to inspire and motivate people to turn their vision and dreams into their real-life reality. Honoree does this by sharing processes she created first for herself and eventually for her coaching clients, audiences and readers. She is Hal Elrod’s business partner in The Miracle Morning book series, and is currently working on several new book projects.

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