Enriched and Refined

My mother assumes that I spend most of my day, sitting upright in my chair, fingers poised over the home row, eyelids fluttering as I line up the perfect words for a killer sentence. It's her view of what writers do and I largely blame the clip at the end of many Stephen J. Cannell shows where he's intently typing and rips the final page out with a flourish. The reality is much different. For one thing, I slouch like a planking squid…

For another, no writer can wait for the perfect words, or r...