Straight Swimming?

I was given two good pieces of advice:
1 - During the entry part of your stroke, point your hand in the direction you want to go
2 - Sight every 6 or so strokes depending on current, conditions etc. As you get better at navigating increase the number of strokes between sightings.

I try to remember that the swim is about exiting the water without having  exhausted myself. To that end,  more frequent sighting and staying on course pays better dividends than less frequent sighting and going off course,

Are you turning your internal compass on?

Serioulsy, I don't know how you guys swim with out.

I swim striaght as an arrow. Point and shoot.

J/K I swim twice as far as the rest of the people cuz I zig zag

In addition to the advice Marmadaddy provides I've found the following helpful:
1. Practice swimming periodicallywith eyes closed in pool. Initially showed me my tendancies to veer and allowed me to practice staying straight.
2. Bilateral breathing. When I would take a breath only to one side I would tend to veer off course to the side I was breathing to. Breathing bilaterally helped keep me straight.

I agree with the comment that you should sight every x many strokes. Learn to breathe on both sides. Be aware of who is swimming around you, because they may be helpful. Practice looking forward once in awhile in the pool, just to get the motion to where it's comfortable for you. I like to be on the left hand side of the swimming lane, which allows me to keep an eye on people, which helps me to know I'm not going way out of line.

Agree with most of the comments above. Definitely practice swimming with your eyes closed in the pool. Try swimming 4 or 5 stroke then open your eyes and see which way your headed (just watch out for other people and the end of the lane Also important: be aware of tides and currents. Even if you are swimming straight, the current will push you in a certain direction. Before a race watch boats and bouys and see if they have a tendancy to move in a certain direction. When you warm up for a race, float around a bit and see what direction you go in, then adjust accordingly when you swim. Eg. if the current is going from right to left, aim for the right of the bouy when you sight.