The writing process

Two often-overlooked things can turn even the most hesitant of writers into prolific, steadily improving creators of awesome: your "intake system" and your drafting process.

First, the intake system.

If you have to stop and manufacture an idea to write RIGHT NOW, that’s a sign you lack the right intake system. The goal is to create a daily way of operating that naturally leads to ideas all the time, so if it's time to write (or time to discuss your editorial calendar), you're prepared. The best way I've found to do this is to set up a personal idea backlog. (I put mine in Evernote, for example.) Lots of stuff goes in there all the time, as you experience it, consume it, or think it: stats you find, links to stuff that inspires you or makes you want to explore deeper, questions and comments from your audience -- gold! -- and specific ideas for blog posts.

In other words, you want to have this constant intake system, which fuels your curiosity every single day, so you catch lots and lots of potential fodder for your writing. Don't look for stories so much as story threads.

Next, the drafting process.

We need to talk about how we typically orient around creating pretty much anything. We think the hard part is to create, or maybe to get the idea right. With all due respect to those parts of the process, I six-million-percent disagree that the real work applies to planning or creating. The real work, the crucial work, is the shaping that comes after you have a draft in front of you.

Instead of thinking, "I need to write something today," think, "I need to edit something today." That's what the process really is.

So, when it's time to plan or to write, (1) pick a thread from your backlog, and (2) pull.

Research, outline, tweak, and generally muck about until you’re staring at a rough lump of stuff. Then (ideally with some time between writing and editing to clear your head), shape it into something worth shipping.

Writing well is something we often glorify in our culture, but it’s really a messy slog forward. Once you accept that, it gets a lot easier.

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