It's really good to know that even crazy experienced writers go through that process. My way of writing is pretty much the same. Once in a blue moon, I'll get an idea for a story while I'm sitting in a cafe or taking the train, and I'll just write it down and that's that. More commonly, I have dozens of unfinished drafts that I keep revisiting until one of them, at spme point, hits that moment when I feel I have all the pieces in place to finish it.

Essays are tough. Listicles and how to's are a different story, but essays, man, they can take me for ever...