My pledge

Is it just me or is every day a race to get as much done as possible before I fall on the mountainous heap of laundry that I never seem to catch up on? All that to say that there aren’t enough hours in a day. (Because you haven’t heard THAT before.)

Sometimes I wish that I had made different choices in life. And when I say sometimes, I mean all the time. But since I can’t change the past, I’m working on changing the future; beginning with the present, of course.

I read somewhere that the true meaning of insanity is defined by doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I’m referring to me finishing my novel. And as anyone who writes knows, writing is hard fricken work.

It gives me great pleasure, yet takes discipline.

It gives me a purpose, yet takes discipline.

It gives me a sense of satisfaction, yet takes discipline.

You get the picture.

So let’s look at the word discipline for a minute. Discipline is about NOT procrastinating. At some point in my life (when I was around three) procrastinating somehow managed to morph into becoming my best friend. The best friend that I hate. And as I get older, I’m finding that even procrastinating takes too much time and effort. Giving me only two words to say to my now new ex-best friend: good . . . bye.

So back to its opposite: discipline.

To be disciplined you have to sacrifice something. And when I say “sacrifice” I don’t mean giving up one of my children as a flaming gift to the gods. I mean something simple yet habitual. Like . . . off the top of my head . . . alcohol. Also known as “happy hour” around here.

If I give up happy hour, I’ll gain an extra entire evening every day to work on my novel! (Because happy hour never really lasts just an hour).

And when I think about the sense of accomplishment that I’ll have with a completed manuscript under my belt, giving up happy hour is such a small sacrifice.

Your job is to harass my ass until it’s completed.

Questions like . . .

“How’s the novel coming along?”

Or

“How goes it in the world of vampires?”.

. . will suffice.

My goal? To have a finished first draft by the end of the summer. Yes. THIS summer.

Oh my. That means wine, martinis, etc. for an entire summer, which just happens to be the best season for alcohol. Wow. When you put it that way it’s a bigger sacrifice than . . . giving up one of my children as a flaming gift to the gods.

Okay. I’m committed.

And this fall let’s plan on cheering to the completion of that first draft. Virtually or in person.

So remember:

My job – Writing/working on my novel EVERY DAY.

Your job – Helping me stay on track.

Are you with me?

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