Sounds like the start of a Newhart bit

Actually, I work with accountants and there was a day when one of them called in and told me he wasn't coming in because of eye trouble. I said "Eye trouble?" and he said "Yeah, I just can't see it."

☑ "Yeah, I just can't see it."

Thing is, though, a lot of [paid] writing is rote and unimaginative. So you can understand why people don't want to start on it until they absolutely have to.

Now, Amy's absolutely right. You should never pass up an opportunity to make fun of people who're earning money, especially if they're being snots about it...

...But a lot of writing is the kind of work that someone could complete in a caffeinated all-nighter, and none of us would know the difference.

But a lot of writing is the kind of work that someone could complete in a caffeinated all-nighter, and none of us would know the difference.

Depends on what you read. I've read fiction from writers who claim only write when in the "mood" and from those who claim to crank out so many thousand words a day regardless of how inspired they feel.

Short stories can b kind of hit and miss, but novels tend to be better written in my limited experience, when the writer writes even when not inspired.

Stephen King says he was totally fucked up on cocaine when he wrote Cujo and doesn't remember writing it at all.

Never been a King reader, but the guys who wrote enjoyable pop music while stoned are OK with me, if not exactly therefore respected... Their emotional responses are their own beeswax. We're the paying customers.

And then there's the legend of Dock Ellis

Thank you for that, Cousin Dave! I never heard of him, baseball never being of much interest to me. I see Snopes says it's a "guarded" true, but I can't see why he would lie about it, considering the other colorful anecdotes.

And now I'm remembering the old WKRP episode, in which Johnny Fever's reflexes get better with every shot he slams.

in which Johnny Fever's reflexes get better with every shot he slams.

Wasn't that Venus Flytrap?

Nope, it was the Doctor. I suppose if I want to be sure maybe I could see if it's on Youtube, but I have a pretty clear picture of in what's left of my mind. Unless I was baked myself. But Johnny was the main substance abuser, I believe.