Writing–any kind of writing–is hard work. The most inspired “work moments” I’ve had are in this category: watching someone struggle with getting to the right word or phrase under pressure and when they are tired. The first time I saw it was watching a college daily editor–my roommate both in college and in DC for a while–struggle at 4:00 AM over a few words in the final sentences of a student reporter’s story covering a public figure’s on-campus speech.
He was also a student stringer for a well-known newspaper, and knew his bosses far away would see his article on the event. He had already phoned in the facts to an editor in Manhattan–and he had been careful to get those facts right.