Let’s get into the numbers for a second, because the numbers sometimes feel like the only thing that’s holding me steady when I write a book. If, at the end of the day, I have written a certain number of words, arrived at a new, higher total number...

Let’s get into the numbers for a second, because the numbers sometimes feel like the only thing that’s holding me steady when I write a book. If, at the end of the day, I have written a certain number of words, arrived at a new, higher total number than where I started the day, then there is a measurable accomplishment. Do not worry about the quality of the words in that moment, I tell myself. That is for late at night, alone and nervous, the events of the day ticking through the brain like some sort of ominous clock in a black and white movie. Allow yourself the one triumph at the end of your workday. Here is this number. I made it happen.