The Birth of Athena

There's a story that the goddess Athena burst fully formed from Zues' head.

I like to tell this story when I'm teaching kids to factor.  Sometimes, you can just look at a problem and know the answer.  It bursts out of your mind, onto the page, and you're done.  This doesn't happen very often because these kiddos are not Zeus.  Generally, they have to put in the work and think it through and go through the steps.  But, on the rare occasions that it does happen, it's something amazing that we should tell stories about for thousands of years.

There's also something to be said for this story in the context of writing.  No story will burst fully formed from your head, pealing to the broad sky its clarion cry of war.  No.  They need to come out kind of lumpy and screamy.  they need to be molded with hard work.  They need to mature over time. They need to grow into their awkward ears.

And while stories that are born without editing have a magic to them, that's what they are: magic and myth.