Paperwork: I’m wondering if my daily story needs a better beginning

Coffee. Couch. Scroll my cellphone.

Next day: repeat.

So ... there you have it. My daily morning routine shows I am the tortoise, not the hare. My slow stepping into the day does not falter much, unless there’s an early morning appointment or some kind of interruption.

Coffee in hand. Comfortable in my nest. I think about what I should be doing, but I’m a slug, unmotivated.

“I’m not a morning person,” I tell people, justifying the whole process. But as I sit here confessing this dismal attitude to you, I know I need to change this boring story I’m writing every day.

I should note, here and now, that my slow start does not always add up to a slow finish. I do make some progress on must-do lists and occasionally on the wish list.

But I keep coming back to that slow-motion movie of me starting my day. If this were a real movie, you’d be switching channels. I need a plot twist.

Every day I write a new chapter in my life and that’s my opener: coffee, couch, cellphone. Boooring. Not a good lede, as they say in the news biz. If every one of my chapters starts this way, well it’s not a book you want to read.

So I’m thinking, OK, let’s take a closer look at my daily story. And what is needed for any good story? Writers like to call it a story arc: that plot thread that weaves through your story and keeps you reading, wanting more, and invested in the characters. Experts break this down into specific parts, but I think my daily story arc needs a better beginning in order to have an interesting middle and a great ending.

I tend to lean on my journalism experience. Like a news story, my daily routine could use a good lede. Something more exciting than: “Lonny drinks coffee on his couch.”

The possibilities are blooming in my head: “Lonny’s life will never be the same after today.” Or ... “Lonny looked at the waiting coffee pot and laughed and declared to the room, ‘Not today, my friend. Not today.’ And thus he changed his life.” Now those are stories I’d like to read. But they need to be written first ... by me.

So I need to start my day differently. That’s what I’m telling myself. But ... how? And without coffee? One motivation guru says I should start my day with a purpose, by tackling an important task that I chose the night before. Hit the ground running. But did I mention already ... I am not a morning person? (Did you hear the whine in my voice as I say that?) You see my dilemma, right? I’m stuck on the couch.

I probably have the answer staring at me every morning. All I have to do is say the word “walk” and his hopeful eyes and wagging tail will pull me off the couch and out the door. Yes, a quick, brisk morning walk would spark my energy and adjust my attitude and give both Tucker and me the exercise we need.

“Lonny walks Tucker every morning.” Hmmm. Still sounds boring.

“Lonny took Tucker for a walk and together they made an astonishing discovery.” Yeah ... getting better.

So ... maybe I’m getting closer to rewriting my day. But I do need to work on the lede a bit more. I’ll do that tomorrow morning.

As I sip coffee. On the couch.

• Lonny Cain, retired managing editor of The Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for The Herald-News in Joliet in the 1970s. His Paperwork email is lonnyjcain@gmail.com. Or mail The Times, 110 W. Jefferson St., Ottawa, IL 61350.