I have always had the desire to work in a news agency, perhaps to experience that pressure. I remember how I used to look at newspaper articles and pay attention to who signed them. Over time, I realise that there was an early ambition in me to write and see my name in those articles. That pressure brought out the best in journalists, who every day felt challenged by deadlines and expectations.
I tell the case of the famous writers of cowboy novels, very popular in Spain, who in the mid-seventies had the obligation to deliver a work every week. Reading their stories and considering the limited time they had to develop them, in an era when computers were scarce and most people wrote on a typewriter, it is impossible not to think that these authors were true heroes.
The ability to create under pressure is admirable and reflects how, both in journalism and in writing, pressure can become a creative impulse. Just as in sport, where athletes often face the discomfort of pressure, in writing we are also challenged.
That discomfort is what pushes us to excel, to explore our limits and to give our best. A great example of this is Gabriel García Márquez, who, as a journalist and novelist, understood the value of working under pressure. He argued that journalism was “the most fun way to be poor,” reflecting how he enjoyed the challenge, even when under stress. Although pressure can be difficult to bear, it is precisely in such moments of challenge that great stories and great talents are forged.