Chip Scanlan / The Poynter Institute

I faced that familiar problem a few days ago. I had finished a chapter of my journalism textbook, patted myself on the back, and promptly felt myself shutting down. Starting the next chapter felt like standing at the foot of Mount Everest and contemplating the climb.

Fortunately, the block didn’t last too long. I cut it short by turning to the single best writing tip I know: Just plant your butt in your chair.

I did just that; problem solved.

How can such a simple action be so difficult? Why must there be all this thrashing around? Why do I keep forgetting the power of this habitual behavior?

I found an answer in “The Mechanic and the Muse,” my former blog that I visit weekly for posts worth updating.

I came upon a brief post, entitled “It’s a bird, it’s a plane; no, it’s Super-Scientist/WriterMan.” In it, I had linked to a Nova episode, the PBS science show, that profiled Karl Iagnemma, an MIT roboticist who also happens to also be an acclaimed fiction writer.

Okay, I admit, I was inclined to hate him — young, gifted and knowledgeable about math — until I listened to him talk about the discipline that both of his fields demanded:

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