I want to tell you about an invaluable writing asset. It's become a non-negotiable element of my writing process, and I hope it becomes the same for you. Writing is hard work. It's not hard like electrical engineering )a chapter in my past life(, which was a mind-numbing, sleep-depriving, hair-pulling kind of hard. Writing is more a sweet torture, soreness-post-crazy-workout kind of hard. You know the routine: The words get stuck . The ideas get jammed.