Yesterday on the Yes Network’s broadcast of the Yankees game, former pitching great Jim Kaat, commenting on Baltimore pitcher Adam Loewen’s long deliberations with catcher Raul Chavez over pitch selection, said that the coaches used to say, “Study Long/Study Wrong.” This is probably helpful for a lot of disciplines. A contractor friend likes to say, “It’s always the first thing you think of, that’s the right answer.” It’s the spirit we respond to in writing, too, when the writers are instinctual. Can it be learned?
