"There is a myth at large in the general population, easily quashable
yet somehow allowed to persist, that writing comes smoothly, like gas
from a pump, or at least unbidden, like tears. This is bull. No decent
prose is ever dashed off, especially that which appears to be
effortlessly dashing. Just as Buster Keaton and Douglas Fairbanks had
to rehearse their leaps and pratfalls, so grace on the page has to be
earned with infinite sweat." --Anthony Lane