Last month I shared a Day in the Life of a Writer, and more than one of you followed up with questions about writing an hour a day and whether that’s actually enough to finish a book.
It is. And it works. Just do the math.
If you write for an hour and average around 500 words, you’re putting down about 15,000 words a month. Keep that going and you’re looking at a full manuscript in roughly six months. This assumes you know what you’re writing, which is rarely my case. This also assumes you write every day, which almost no one does, including me.
You miss days. You get pulled into other writing projects. You hit stretches where life takes over. In the middle of a book, edits on something else can derail you for weeks or months.
You have to bake those realities into your planning.
So I track things. Not daily word counts, but notes about when I started a project, when I had to step away for other work, and how long those interruptions lasted. For the manuscript I’m working on now, it’ll be about eight months of actual writing to complete the first draft, but closer to a year in real time because of other commitments. And out of that stretch, I’ve probably taken a total of about a week off from writing altogether.
The important thing isn’t speed, unless you’re on a crazy-ass deadline. It’s that the work keeps moving.
The hour-a-day practice started 22 years ago because I had a corporate job and that was the only time available. But even now, I stick with it for a different reason. After about an hour, I stop being sharp. I start pushing. I convince myself sentences are better than they are. I’m working harder, but the work itself isn’t improving. The law of diminishing returns kicks in.
So I stop.
Do I sometimes feel like I should be writing more? Of course I do. That voice never really goes away. But I also know what happens when my writing muscle begins to fatigue. The joy drains. The curiosity deadens. And the writing suffers because of it.
I’m not interested in that.
I want to write enough to stay engaged. Enough that I look forward to sitting down again tomorrow. Enough that this still feels like something I choose, not something that’s grinding me down (and the truth is, there are still plenty of times where even in the hour it can grind me down).
That number is different for everyone. Some writers can go much longer and stay fresh the whole time. I can’t. I’d rather leave the page feeling clear than squeeze out more words that don’t help the book and make me resent the work.
Consistency matters more than volume.
So, for you writers out there, if you’re waiting for life to calm down before you commit to writing, you should know something: that moment isn’t coming. Writing has to fit inside the life you actually have, not the one you’re hoping for later.
Write regularly. Set your own deadline if no one else has done it for you. Protect the part of the process that keeps you engaged, where you actually feel that small dopamine hit as your fingers move across the keyboard.
That’s how books get finished on a consistent basis without burning out along the way.
At my daily writing spot: Starbucks
New episodes of my podcast Making It Up are out! Over the past month, I chatted with:
Episode 219: Matthew Sullivan
Matthew Sullivan is the author of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, an Indie Next Pick, B&N Discover pick, GoodReads Choice Award finalist, and winner of the Colorado Book Award. We talked about alcohol and writing, writing strange and unconventional novels, and how the unpredictability of success can actually make you a better writer. We closed by making up a menacing story inspired by a line from Where You End.
Episode 218: Tod Goldberg
Tod Goldberg is a New York Times bestselling author of sixteen books, including the Gangsterland quartet. We talked about growing up in a family of writers, what he’s learned from running an MFA program, and writing from a place of absurdity rather than darkness. We wrapped with a hilarious story inspired by a line from Everything’s Eventual.
Episode 217: Jennifer Fawcett
Jennifer Fawcett is an author, actor, and playwright whose work includes Beneath the Stairs and Keep This for Me. We talked about building professional relationships with other authors, maintaining a healthy relationship with your editor, and advocating for yourself within your publishing team. We ended with a descriptive story inspired by a line from The Mechanics of Memory.
Episode 216: Danielle Girard
Danielle Girard is a USA Today and Amazon #1 bestselling author of sixteen novels, including her upcoming thriller Pinky Swear. We talked about writing in first-person present tense, going back to get an MFA after already being published, and the challenges of writing characters who are demographically different from you. We closed with a mysterious story inspired by a line from Blade.
Episode 215: Courtney Psak
Courtney Psak is the author of two novels, with her third, The Hostess, forthcoming in April 2026. We talked about her detailed outlining process, working with a UK publisher, and why mother-in-laws make excellent unreliable narrators. We finished with a gripping story inspired by a line from The Doorman.
All episodes are available on my website, my YouTube channel, and wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
REVIEWS – “RICH ASSHOLES” EDITION
On the Page
When McKinsey Comes to Town, Michael Forsythe and Walt Bogdanich (2022)
Last month I read Empire of Pain about the OxyContin crisis and, after soaking in the evil of the Sackler family, I decided I wanted to expose myself to more stories about stupid rich assholes who think rules don’t apply to them. So I watched the news. Hey-o!
I picked up When McKinsey Comes to Town, which is basically a long, well-documented record of how one consulting firm managed to leave damage all over the world while insisting it was just “offering advice.” I’ve worked in consulting. I know the language. I know how easy it is to hide behind decks, frameworks, and the phrase “we don’t make the decisions.” Even so, I wasn’t prepared for how often McKinsey showed up right before something went spectacularly wrong, then quietly disappeared once the fallout started. Opioids. Authoritarian governments. Massive corporate layoffs. The pattern is hard to ignore.
The book is careful and patient, which somehow makes it more infuriating. It just keeps laying out case after case until the picture is unavoidable. You see how much harm can be done by people who never technically pull the trigger but are always happy to show someone else how to do it. By the end, I wasn’t just annoyed. I was genuinely pissed off, both at McKinsey and at the system that keeps rewarding this kind of behavior. Read it if you want to understand how power actually works. Maybe give yourself a minute afterward before talking to anyone who works in consulting.
On the Screen
Succession (HBO series, 2018-2023)
I reviewed this once before before and I’m doing it again because I recently rewatched the entire series.
Now, I don’t rewatch many shows. The list is short: Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Lost, and now Succession. Somehow it’s even better the second time. What you notice more clearly is how much of it is just a modern Shakespearean tragedy dressed up in billionaires, private jets, and boardrooms. It’s greed, insecurity, anti-wokeness posturing, and raw hunger for power, all wrapped in the thinnest possible layer of civility. Everyone wants control. Everyone thinks they deserve it. Almost everyone is wrong.
This time I watched with the subtitles on, which I highly recommend. You catch every muttered insult, every under-the-breath comment, every line that probably wasn’t meant to be fully heard. The writing is unbelievably sharp. Even the background dialogue is brutal. There are lines buried in the noise that are funnier and nastier than most shows’ big speeches. What really hits on a rewatch is how committed the show is to letting these people stay exactly who they are. No sudden epiphanies. No heartfelt apologies. Just rich assholes doing what rich assholes do, over and over, convinced this time it’ll work out for them. It’s dark, it’s hilarious, and it feels uncomfortably close to real life. Turn the subtitles on. You’ll catch more jokes. You’ll also probably dislike everyone even more.
Photo of the Month
Book tease! Here’s a clue to my next thriller, launching November 10, 2026. You’ll be hearing a lot more about this one.
Update from my Kids
My daughter is in law school and applying for summer internships. I love that she asks for advice from her dad.
Update from my Pets
This is my day at home. All day, every day. And why I do my writing at a coffee shop.
Humor of the Month sent to me by a friend
A glimpse inside a Signal group chat with some old high-school friends.
Did you know that through my company, Unbound Writer, I work directly with writers at every stage of their journey? I offer one-on-one coaching, live seminars, retreats, and online courses, all focused on helping people tell the stories that matter to them. If you’re interested in exploring what I offer, you can visit my site (linked above) and set up a free consultation call to see if we’re a good fit. Working with writers has become one of the most meaningful parts of my career, so each month I’ll be sharing a testimonial from someone I’ve had the privilege of coaching.
That’s it for now!
Just a reminder to subscribe to my newsletter for more content and access to contests and giveaways. Oh, and if you follow me on social media you’ll see a lot more pictures of my goddamn pets. Until next month…
