I helped a friend move yesterday and was asked, “How did you learn to write?” And my answer was, “I ran a writing community for six years. After that, I studied every book I could buy—over 200—on craft for half a decade, writing as often as I could. I’m constantly learning.”

I kind of felt like the question was . . . not stupid but a question that had an obvious answer. How do you get good at anything? You study a lot and practice a lot.

Then I got home and watched this guy on YouTube play Ghibli music on the piano. I’ve been wanting to compose my own music for decades, which starts with the piano. I thought, “How did he learn to play?”

This made me realize that we all find what others do well, kind of magical. But the answer is the same for pretty much everything. If you want to do something, study everything you can and practice lots.

This week, my practicing—as every step you take toward your goals is also a learning opportunity—resulted in 15,193 new words on Dungeon Runner 3. It’s officially 50% done, which is unfortunate.

I’m not making enough progress toward my goals. As such, I did the totally Dustin thing to do; I came up with a new schedule! I’m on Plan 23, which increases my 50-minute writing sessions to eight from seven.

We’ll see how this goes for the next week or two and adjust if needed. The day, if you asked me, needs a few more hours in it.

With that, I bid thee farewell. Have a wonderful week!