When I write, I get to observe the transition from this fluid mode of thinking to the rigid. As I type, I’m often in a fluid mode—writing at the speed of thought. I feel confident about what I’m saying. But as soon as I stop, the thoughts solidify, rigid on the page, and, as I read what I’ve written, I see cracks spreading through my ideas. What se... See more

I don’t know that I’ve ended up with gold any more than any historical alchemists ever did, but on a technical level I feel like having to reconceptualise the same thing in so many different forms has given me a much deeper sense of it and my own capacity as a writer.