When I need some creative inspiration, I often pull The Writer’s Desk off my shelf. It’s an old book, full of black- and-white photographs of famous writers at work. Toni Morrison sits on a couch with a spiral-bound notebook and pen. Kurt Vonnegut is barefoot and crouched over some sort of atlas. Nikki Giovanni sits before her typewriter and a wall of photographs of family and friends. Joan Didion’s desk is set up in her bedroom because...