DISCIPLINE

As in Self-discipline. As the owner of a chaotic mind and the attention span of a gnat, in order to be the kind of writer I aspire to be, I have developed a process that helps me to transcend my natural obstacles. It started seven years ago when I made the decision to be a writer of novels; at first I placed myself in front of my laptop and made the firm commitment to stay there for fifteen minutes, whether or not a single word was produced. Over time, I increased the duration incrementally. Today I sit there comfortably for three or four hours. This means the cellphone on mute, no texting, no internet. I am kept company by jazz music and my dog, Baby, the provider of moral support and occasional story ideas.

This quest requires isolation, for which I have a gift. I am blessed with a wonderful consultant, Liz Dubelman, to whom I send fifteen pages to at a time, receive incredibly helpful feedback from, and Zoom with regularly. Before all writing sessions I ask my higher power to write through me - He or she is pretty good.

Creating a detailed, exhaustive outline allows me to later improvise and entertain ideas that bubble up and listen to my characters as they develop their own voices. I need to write with as close to 100% of my mental energy I can muster. When I accomplish this, I am not thinking about my ex-wife, the orange scourge, the idea that our planet may soon extinguish, and most importantly, myself. When I get stuck, I move on and return to the passage later, when the roadblock is usually, miraculously, removed. I hear voices in my head, chastising me, “You have no talent”, “No one will ever read this”, and “You’re wasting your time.” I respond out loud, “Not today, buddy” or simply, “Fuck off.”