I once knew a man who was destined to write, determined to write, and vowed he would write, without fail, as soon as his office over the garage was finished.

For most of us, there are certain conditions we need in order to write. That is to say, we can find reasons not to. Arranging words is hard work.

For my part, I need a good length of uninterrupted time, to allow my imagination to gather speed and take flight. Or so I tell myself.

In truth most anything can prevent my imagination from getting off the ground. Legal writing, for example, chains one's thoughts to the bedrock of legal principles. When I put myself in the state of mind to work on legal articles I find it almost impossible to escape quickly into the flighty mindset needed for fiction.

Uninterrupted time is, I guess, my version of the office over the garage.

For all I know, the garage builder may have eventually sat in his office and wrote bestselling novels, under a pseudonymn. The last I heard, there was some sort of problem with his wiring.