A methodical approach to an irrational task offers a certain hope of success in a project that is in fact hopeless. And to some extent a methodical approach can provide a sense of meaning, even joy in some cases. This apparent structure might be what makes searching for something so much like writing: the stroll of the thought down to the paper that appears purposeful when it is not; a map with twenty equilateral rectangles superimposed on an unfamiliar town, a quest for someone who is here but has disappeared.
