Driving in a foreign country is always an adventure. As I barreled along the autoroute, a suave and cultured voice came on the radio, and it seemed to be talking to me alone. "The writer, ? the voice assured me, "is the person who is missing words.? I took one hand off the wheel and noted down the aphorism. It contained the kind of contradiction that has always appealed to me. The aphorism has stayed with me ever since. I wondered: what is it that a person lacks that turns them into a writer?