Still, there are days when I don't write a single word. Instead, I leave endless messages for potential sources, hoping they'll call me back before my deadline. I read glossy magazines and imagine how my words would look between their pages. I stare at a blank computer screen, hoping the right words will find their way to the page. I call other writers for reassurance that they are also staring at blank computer screens.

I check my e-mail every 25 seconds. I check the mail four times a day. I panic. And just when I think I should start scouring the want ads, it happens: a source calls me back and I meet the deadline, an editor e-mails me with a new assignment, a magazine arrives in the mailbox with my words between its covers, a 1500-word article flows effortlessly from my fingers onto the computer screen.

That is what it means to be a writer.