There are many reasons folks don’t write. Lack of talent isn’t one of them. Working too hard is.

I don’t know a single writer who is lazy but I know a few who think that they are. This way of thinking goes like this: “If I am a writer, I must sit and write. If I don’t sit and write I am lazy. Therefore I will sit and write no matter what.”

Noble, but dumb. Forcing words is like forcing love or forcing a laugh. Not particularly effective. For some reason I have no insight about, sometimes writing is boring. When it is boring to sit and write, I think a fine thing to do is to go away and get un-bored.

The best way I know to go about the un-bored process is to give something: like give the dog a bath, or give a listen to words you didn’t think up. Don’t work too hard. Writing doesn’t like that.