Granted. You pick up a pen and paper, and you literally write down the words "the Great American Novel". At that point your interest goes away. But hey, you wrote "the Great American Novel"!
I wish, I could at will, look upto one hour into the future and then, if I don't do anything different, it happens exactly like I saw it, giving me control to actually alter the future. If you don't know what I mean, go see the movie Next starring Nickolas Cage