How to Be an Author–Part Three: Discipline, Distractions, Deadlines & Determination

Yesterday the President gave the State of the Union, and I was all in. Not that I’m the biggest fan of the President, but I’ve always been a news junkie and there’s no bigger news story than the State of the Union. The first part I listened to because we were in the car on our way back from our volunteer work as facilitators of an adults with Down syndrome book club. Deb and I have made the twenty-five mile roundtrip every Tuesday for the past six years. We watched the remainder and the Democrats’ response when we were home. Earlier in the day I picked up out of date food from a local grocery store and took it to the Pathways of Hope distribution center for feeding the hungry and homeless. I’ve done this every other week for the past several years. Monday, I took part in the interviews of candidates for the assistant rabbi position the search committee I serve on is attempting to fill. Later, I’d return to our synagogue to watch a film presented by our Men’s Club. Today I took my mother to lunch as I do on Wednesday. I returned from that forty-five mile roundtrip a short while ago and will head in a few minutes to a meeting of the search committee to discuss those interviews. Tomorrow evening, Deb and I will attend a fundraiser for Pathways of Hope and Friday we are going to a workshop to assist families coping with the problems brought about by a member with Alzheimer disease. I’ll say my prayers when I am at Sabbath services that night.

Being a retired teacher allows me the freedom to volunteer. Helping is its own reward. It does however infringe on the limited time in a day to write. My goal is always write early in the morning. It’s when I have the greatest level of energy. The first thing I do everyday is eat breakfast and have a cup of coffee to energize my daily workout. When I return from the gym, I attempt to wash the morning dishes and sit down to write. This requires the first D–discipline. Staying focused demands closing out the rest of the world. I close my door and turn off my phone. The effort eliminates the second D–distractions. A sufficient amount of production is insured by self-imposed and group set completion dates. My critique group meets the second Sunday of the month. We submit our materials a week before to meet the third D–deadlines. Finally, there is only one thing that keeps a writer writing. The writer must write. The words must come out. There is no doubt about the essential nature of the fourth D–determination.

Some say there’s a fifth D–destiny. I’ll believe that when I find an agent and the agent finds a publisher for my novel.