Before I started doing contract work, Friday was my day to celebrate, since I’d survived another week on the job. Boy, did I look forward to every second of those 2 consecutive days off. That probably should have told me something.

With contract work, weekends don’t mean much, because I never know when the work is going to dry up, so my tendency is to start as soon as the ink dries and just keep going. Every contract will end sooner or later.

One constant that serves as a mental touchstone is writing. No matter what’s going on, I find some time to write every day. Whether it’s the novel, a screenplay or revisions, it’s about the only thing I have control over. Even that control is an illusion, because I don’t know what’s going to come out of the pages I write. Maybe people will like them, maybe they won’t. It’s not for me to say or predict.

I only control the knowledge that I’m going to keep going. And whatever end is out there waiting for me, my present course continues.