A 3-Step Process to Never Run out of Writing Topics
And never have writer’s block again.
My desktop is a mess. Littered with half-finished blog drafts, great headlines I don’t want to forget, and ideas for book proposals.
I have handwritten notes on the back on Trader Joe’s receipts crumpled at the bottom of my purse. Notes on Post-its on my desk, notes scribbled in spiral-bound journals everywhere, and thousands of memos on my iPhone.
I’m a writer, and I never run out of things to write about.
When I need a prompt — an idea — I go to any of these places and find something to write. Inspiration finds me everywhere, and then, I write it down.
My secret: I always write ideas down.
Writing isn’t my side hustle. It’s my full-time job.
Like most writers, I sometimes struggle to get my writing accomplished daily. However, once I figured out a process, it became much easier to keep a daily writing habit going, not for a few months, but for a couple of years consecutively.
Once I figured out writing is a three-part process, it suddenly became much easier to have one quality article to post five to seven times per week.
Rarely does a blinking cursor scare me back into bed because ideas are just sitting there, mostly on my desktop, waiting their turn to get written, polished, and published.
Writers often lament about writer’s block. While there are days I absolutely do not want to write, I rarely sit down at the computer and stare at a blinking cursor without finding something to say because I have my myriad of notes to draw from and work on.
This is the trick.
Writing is not one thing, it is three — ideation, creation, and editing.
Focus on just one of these tasks at a time instead of all three. So then, when you sit down to write, your job as a writer is much easier.
If you think of writing as three distinct tasks: coming up with ideas, writing those ideas into drafts, and then editing the drafts into something you can share with your audience, it makes your job more manageable.
As a writer, you know the writing process is much easier when you get up in the morning with an idea already percolating than it is to start with nothing.
So, break it down into three steps.
Start with ideation.
When you do this, you will waste a lot less time staring at the cursor, sitting there waiting, and waiting for something to come.
We’ve all done this only to wonder where the day went. It usually won’t happen, there is too much pressure. You end up wasting a lot of time. When the idea is already there, before you start, coming up with 1,000 words on that idea isn’t as challenging as doing all three tasks of the writing process in one sitting.
Do each task in three separate actions. You will be far more focused and productive.
Most professional writers have a system or process which allows them to produce a lot of quality content.
Break down the process of writing into three parts
#1. Ideation
Rarely do I leave the house without a notebook. If I don’t have a physical notebook with me, I have my phone with my notes app to use when inspiration strikes.
I get ideas all the time, and as soon as I do, I write them down because I know I will never remember some genius idea I have. Usually, it turns out not to be genius, but still, a thought to work on and suss out.
It doesn’t matter what tool you use to capture your ideas, just make sure to use one that you find easy to use. The idea is to make it as easy as possible for you to get your ideas down somewhere.
You can transfer them to whatever system you use on your laptop— they end up in Microsoft Word for me — just pick a tool you know you’ll stick with. Title the folder “ideas.”
#2. Creation
I write in the morning. That’s when I’m at my best, sharpest, and most alert. I get my main task — my most important thing (writing) — accomplished in the morning.
This allows me to do my non-essential tasks that require less energy like email, responding to texts, and readers’ comments in the afternoon when my energy is low.
When it is time for me to write, I’ll choose an idea from my desktop or from my notes and start writing. The idea acts as a prompt and makes it easier to write because I don’t have to come up with the idea first, the idea is already there, waiting for me. I don’t have to “just write.”
The prompt “just write” is where writer’s block happens.
I write anywhere between 800 and 1,500 words in one sitting that eventually becomes a publishable piece. Once I write at least 1,000 words, I save it to my “editing” folder. At any given time, I have more than a dozen drafts waiting to be edited and finalized for publication.
Then I move on to the final task in the writing process, editing.
#3. Editing
Editing is my least favorite part of the writing process.
However, this three-step process — ideation, creation, and editing — makes the editing process more manageable because I can choose what I want out of the draft folder to work on. I don’t have to work on something I’m just not feeling for that day.
The point of a system is to make your life and/or work easier. This does for me.
I choose a draft I want to work on, edit it, and fix all grammatical and spelling mistakes.
I read it aloud for flow and structure a couple of times.
Reading your work aloud is the best way to catch small mistakes your eye skims over when reading silently. Reading aloud allows you to hear the rhythm of a piece to make sure it works from the reader’s perspective.
Once I’m finished, I schedule it for publication, or I will place it in a new folder named “completed” for later use.
Even if you pay an editor, you first have to clearly and concisely get your ideas onto the page, so there is editing involved no matter what.
Take out your red pen and make it bleed.
Great writers spend a lot of time in the editing process — more time in the editing part than in the creation part.
Editing isn’t only checking for grammatical and spelling errors; it is reworking entire sentences and paragraphs to improve structure, comprehension, and flow.
It is tedious, but a necessary part of the writing process.
Summary
- Ideas — collect ideas into whatever tool is easiest for you to use so that you will do it. It can be as short as a sentence or a phase. Try to get in the habit of writing down five ideas per day and then increasing to ten. You won’t use all of them. Anytime you think, “that’s a good idea,” or “that’s something I can add to that one draft,” write it down. Write it down even if you think it is stupid. It probably isn’t, and if it is, you can just toss it.
- Creation — pick an idea from your notes and write at least 500 words on that idea as a prompt. Choose the one you’re most excited about and interested in writing for that day. Some days I want to write about one topic more than others. Pick your poison. When you are finished with your piece, transfer it into another folder titled “editing.”
- Edit and schedule for publishing — wait a bit after writing to edit. We use a different part of our brain for editing than we do for writing. Wait until later that day, or even better, the next day. Polish it and schedule for publishing.
And then start again. Choose another idea from your “idea” folder.
That is how you create a daily writing process that you can rely on. It isn’t dependant on whether you feel like writing or have something to write about. Step one in the process takes care of the idea part, so when you sit down to write, you will struggle less and publish more.
Jessica is a writer, an online entrepreneur, and a recovering type-A personality. She lives in Los Angeles with her extrovert daughter, two dogs, and two cats.
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