Today I passed the 10,000-word mark on my young adult novel, more if you count the prologue that I’ll almost certainly cut when all is said and done. It’s an insignificant number in the grand scheme of things, but it means something to me for what it represents: forward progress.

Let’s say I do another 10,000 words a month from now till the end of the year—which is ambitious enough to feel like it would be an accomplishment, but also doable enough if I apply myself and work hard at it. It would get me to 60,000 words by January 1 and put me within shouting distance of a finished first draft. So that’s the new target.

Tomorrow, I start on the next 10,000.