On writing

It’s the birthday of Pulitizer Prize-winning writer John McPhee. He’s 74. The Writer’s Almanac has an excellent profile of McPhee that includes this:

McPhee has published more than 25 books, even though he rarely writes more than 500 words a day. He once tried tying himself to a chair to force himself to write more, but it didn’t work. He said, “People say to me, ‘Oh, you’re so prolific.’ God, it doesn’t feel like it—nothing like it. But, you know, you put an ounce in a bucket each day, you get a quart.”