Why write?

Quick answer: because, today included, every time I set pen to paper I discover something.

I used to hate writing. Thank-you letters. What I did in my summer vacation. Five-paragraph essays with a formula that required repetition. Reading novels got me through a turbulent childhood, but I never quite connected reading with writing. I didn't think up stories, and writing meant slog and struggle and tedium.

Anyway, even if I'd wanted to write, I…