NOT WITHOUT DISCIPLINE!

I could not settle down to write over the past couple of weeks. I had no discipline. I would flit from one mindless task to another, rarely finishing any task to completion. (Can anyone say, ADHD?) Yepper, my ADHD was in full swing.

I was out in my garden one day. I finished planting some bulbs and some fresh flowers.

I had discipline for that, but not writing.

While I was outside I heard the neighbor dad and sons building something. How sweet, I thought! What a lovely neighbor family I had. They were making quite the noise, but I ignored it. Something about the harmony factor of a family softened my heart.

I had asked some of my friends to pray for me in the discipline department. I could feel their prayers working and began writing as if my life depended on it.

However, something soon exploded into chaos amid my discipline.

CLUNK! CLUNK! CLUNK! My goodness me, I did not know what those next-door neighbors were up to, but there was a lot of noise going on beside my house.

It was ruining my discipline!

I climbed up my stairs so I could peak out my window and look down at their house. My mouth dropped in horror! They had built a skateboard ramp right outside my bedroom window!

HORRORS! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!!!! WHERE ON EARTH WAS MY DISCIPLINE NOW?

Those two cute neighbor boys (better known now as wee little monsters) were going up and down that upside down C shaped contraption like they were training for the olympics and each time they would settle on the rest there was another CLUNK!

My concentration was gone! I was a total mess! I took my dog out on a walk and rehearsed just what I would say to those formally friendly neighbors. (Which had now turned into a ghastly family of monsters)

I asked God, “Why, oh why, me? I am sincerely trying to write for you and you let a family of monsters move in right next door to me?”

The fact that I really adore the two wee little monsters kept knocking on the panic room of my brain. Plus, I like their Dad and their Mom is amazing.

So I thought about what I could say to them, considering maybe saying nothing and going to the HOA to report “noise pollution.”

Then I prayed about it and some sense got knocked into me.

First, these kids had been in quarantine for several months and had to stay inside. They were probably driving their sweet mom batty.

Second, this was a new toy. They would play on it a lot to begin with. Soon it may lose its charm. (Praying fervently for that to happen)

Third, this was not a malicious act on their part. If it got to be really irritating, maybe I could suggest they put a sound buffer on the place that made so much noise.

Fourth, I have been sleeping in too much as of late. It may be good for me to have a “clunking” alarm clock to wake me up. Then I could not hit the snooze again and again.

Fifth, I have never savored and enjoyed silence as much as I do now. I treat silence as if it is a rare gem. Now every time they are not clunking I make a mad dash, hurdling chairs and obstacles, wiping sweat off my brow and slide into home plate, which is my couch to do one thing. I write.

The fact that now I never know when I will have peace has caused me to value the rare times I do have peace. As a result, my discipline has grown by leaps and bounds! And when it is silent, I am doing one thing; I am writing!

If you are a writer and lack discipline. I would suggest taking the advice of the following article. https://www.nownovel.com/blog/writing-discipline-7-strategies/

Suzie awoke with a horrible realization that nothing had changed. She felt uneasy for the last couple of years. When did this start? She couldn’t remember, but it was growing like a malignant cancer, consuming her thoughts and maybe, even… her heart.

When you write a novel, you can start with a bang or you can begin baiting the reader with a subtle nuance of the character’s demise.

Have you ever felt as if something was wrong but you couldn’t figure out how to fix it?

Have you ever wanted so bad for a relationship to work out but the other party was unwilling?

This is the dilemma that Suzie has found herself in, as her husband begins to distance himself from her.

When you read a novel, what captures your attention? Do you like a subtle lure or a big bang?

What is the best opening paragraph you have read in a novel?

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