“That Perfect Thing That Was In My Head”

I reference this video of writer Ta-Nehisi Coates so often that I want to share the link here. About 1.5. minutes in, he starts talking about the difference between “that perfect thing that was in my head” and what actually ends up on the page. If what you end up with is just 70% as good as that perfect that thing was in your head, he says, then you’ve done your job.