there are a ton of takes like “why are great writers all assholes?” as though there were something about being an asshole which makes you a great writer, but i think it’s actually the opposite and being good at writing is what makes you into an asshole
every time anyone says anything you are reminded that the world is a flawed, imperfect place and that things could be better
being good at writing also means being able to appreciate to a greater extent the beauty in various turns of phrase so it's not all bad
but you don't get good without hijacking your brain’s pattern-matching to constantly notice flaws in text and identify discrepancies between stated and intended meaning
noticing these things doesn’t make you a bad person but it does inevitably lead you down the path of being kind of an asshole
