One of my most favorite books in childhood was Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present (Charlotte Zolotow, illus. Maurice Sendak), in which Mr. Rabbit helps the little girl assemble a birthday gift for her mother. One of the book’s refrains (the story is structured around nested repetitions with variation) has been coming back to me lately as I work on several different projects: “that’s good, but I need something else.” While running, or while sitting in a chair thinking, or driving–whatever; writing is a more active verb than some people think–I’ll add another layer to the story I’m working out, another node to the argument I’m trying to build, and I’ll think yes, that’s good, that’s very good. But I need something more. 
So I keep thinking. My baskets are gradually filing. Advice comes in unexpected places.
(Another legacy of reading aloud.)