Quote

“Delay is natural to a writer. He is like a surfer — he bides his time, waits for the perfect wave on which to ride in. Delay is instinctive for him. He waits for the surge (of emotion? of strength? of courage?) that will carry him along. I have no warm-up exercises, other than to take an occasional drink.”
— E.B. White, The Paris Review, 1969

I love this quote, even though (or because?) it rationalizes and excuses my own writerly procrastination. Then again, any writer who accomplished the twin triumphs of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little earned whatever sloth he might wish for himself. I have earned no such luxury.

(Via Maud Newton.)