Steve Pavlina explains that the method he'd been taught in school-- a highly structured writing process of organizing what to say before it's written-- tends to produce dull writing, but starting from enthusiasm results in articles which are a pleasure to write and are apt to be more fun and memorable to read.
Inspirational energy has a half life of about 24 hours. If I act on an idea immediately (or at least within the first few hours), I feel optimally motivated, and I can surf that wave of energy all the way to clicking “Publish.” If I sit on an idea for one day, I feel only half as inspired by it, and I have to paddle a lot more to get it done. If I sit on it for 2 days, the inspiration level has dropped by 75%, and for all practical purposes, the idea is dead. If I try to write it at that point, it feels like pulling teeth. It’s much better for me to let it go and wait for a fresh wave. There will always be another wave, so there’s no need to chase the ones I missed.
This looks like PJ Eby territory-- it's about the importance of pleasure as a motivator.
Same here.
Although I also tend to find that my enjoyment of the writing process increases once I've got a certain amount of stuff out on the screen. So my writing process looks something like inspiration -> boredom/dislike for idea -> enjoyment and satisfaction at pulling information together into a coherent whole, and most of my ideas get stuck in that valley of boredom and dislike for the idea.