Scott Young

And sometimes those conditions are present and sometimes they're not.

My friend Cal Newport has this quote,

I think it's from Chuck Close originally called Inspiration is for Amateurs in the Context of Writing, which is that all writers desire this kind of like free-flowing writing.

It just comes naturally and it's beautiful prose.

And he was like, well, that's an amateur mindset.

The professional mindset is that while actually struggling through figuring out what you're going to write and having these kind of grinding, halting attempts, that's what real writing is.

That's what it is to be a really good writer.

And so I don't want to say that that's what I desire out of my writing sessions all the time.

But I think it is sometimes comforting because when you have those beautiful days on the golf course or writing an essay or doing whatever you're doing where it just comes so easily and you feel like you're doing really well, cherish them, enjoy them, but recognize that

You know, performing a skill, performing something that's difficult, even when you're good, can have that kind of struggling, problem-solving moments.