Victor Hugo had just five months to write his novel “Notre-Dame de Paris,” or “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” as it is known in English. But the already accomplished French author was completely blocked. An entire year past the deadline he had agreed upon with the publisher, Hugo hadn’t written a single sentence of the book. Too many other things were competing for his time. For one, Hugo was distracted by upheaval in France. In 1830, Paris was besieged, gripped by political upheaval, and in the midst of a second revolution. For another, Hugo and his wife were precipitously evicted from their living quarters because the landlady couldn’t bear all the noise generated by the comings and goings of their friends and colleagues. Using any excuse to procrastinate with the task at hand, Hugo spent his time going out to the theater instead of staying indoors to write the book. …