That said, why is the act of writing, the moment-by-moment compression of the keys, so dreaded by so many writers? Why do they have to interpose opium, or alcohol, or some other stimulant or sedative, before they can perform their trade’s basic function? You don’t hear of accountants who can’t open a spreadsheet, or farmers who take against fields.

Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self-…, loc. 43