Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter at the New York Times. He’s also the author of The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business. They’re both excellent books, filled with advice that can make you more productive.

Today’s advice comes from the section of the latter book where Duhigg is demonstrating how he used the advice that he put into the book. Actually, it’s not advice at all. It’s an observation.

“Writing a book is a big goal— too big, in many ways, to grasp the entirety of it at first.”

I’ve decided to share that observation with everyone who contacts me about writing a book. It should lay the groundwork for some productive discussion.

Want more? Check out the complete list of Advice from the Masters posts

If you want even more writing advice from writers, check out Jon Winokur’s blog, “AdvicetoWriters.”