I’m stuck; I’ve no muse about what to write. I can’t find any idea.
Aha… the famous writer’s block.
What do I do in those cases? From where does the inspiration to write about stuff come from? Where do I find ideas? How do I find the time?
Regarding the second, you make time — it is all a matter of prioritization. I’ve written about time management in the past, and those methods help me to focus.
Arrange your time and your mind will follow
The ideas? come from various sources. I keep an extensive list of podcasts, newsletters, blogs, etc., which I follow to gain more knowledge or, as I call it, the quest for growth, more on that:
In the quest for growth material
Besides that, I found ideas in unique places. I look for questions on Q&A-based websites such softwareengineering.stackexchange, workplace.stackexchange or quora.
Sometimes I get ideas from my colleagues or people I follow on Twitter. Actually, Twitter is an interesting place to collect them; I tend to tweet my thoughts, and occasionally a debate might evolve; this can be a trigger to blog about.
Anyhow, whether it’s a blog, podcast, or any other source. First, I collect the subjects I think I’d like to write about on a dedicated Notion page, a sort of ideas log. Afterward, I follow the method I wrote about here to sort it out:
Digital Notes are your life dashboard
This means that whenever I feel like writing or creating, I already have an arsenal of ideas.
So now I have a prioritized list, the fun part can begin. I pick the first item and start to research it online and collect the info on the subject’s page.
Once I feel ready I start writing, which is about the time I feel I consumed enough sources to write about the subject and express my opinion on it. Don’t get me wrong: research is critical, but sometimes, you just have to stop and start writing and see what happens.
The draft is ready? I read the whole thing repeatedly and then again 😂 and fix whatever doesn’t get along with my main narrative.
Finally, I use Grammarly to find any typos and grammar mistakes and if the sentences don’t fit the defined Grammarly goals. I usually pick an informal general audience with a casual domain. My writing style (intent) usually tells a story (as you might have noticed).
Lastly, the reviewers, a bunch of close friends, and colleagues happily read my drafts and share their inputs, and based on their feedback (loops), I’ll rewrite the final draft.
Basically, writing is all about reading and then more writing. As the old saying goes, “the only kind of writing is rewriting”.
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