Today, my writing process has evolved. I’ve started to do a better job at writing during moments that motivate me. If I have a thought that inspires me, I’ll start writing and capture the feeling while it’s there. Then eventually I’ll get distracted by something else and move on, only to be inspired by a new idea which I then proceed to write about. As a result, I have unfinished works scattered across my folders, each one a snapshot of a moment when something felt urgent enough to put into words.
For me, there is something incredibly special about the fact that I am now accumulating these unfinished pieces. It represents a moment in my writing journey where I’ve stopped trying to force everything to completion and started trusting that the ideas worth developing will make themselves known over time.
It also creates a backlog of things I can pull from when I’m feeling uninspired so I’m not trapped on what I call the content wheel of death. You know the feeling. It’s Sunday night and you haven’t written anything and you feel the pressure mounting. You sit down to force something out, anything, just to keep the streak alive. But forced writing rarely connects. It checks a box but doesn’t serve the reader or respect the craft.
Having a collection of half-finished thoughts means I’m not starting from zero on those difficult nights. I’m starting from a moment of genuine inspiration, even if it was weeks ago. I can return to that initial spark and ask: what was I trying to say here? What made this feel urgent? Sometimes the answer is clear and the piece writes itself. Sometimes I realize the idea wasn’t as strong as I thought. Both outcomes are useful.
As I continue on my creator journey on Substack and elsewhere, I find myself excited by the way in which my mindset and my creative process is evolving. To see a moment so clearly where I have evolved in this process is super encouraging. I know it will help me create leverage so I can now use some of my time to do other things with my work.
When I say leverage, I mean something specific. Right now, every post requires me to show up with full creative energy from idea to publish. But with a repository of started pieces, I can separate ideation from execution. I can batch capture ideas when inspiration strikes, then return to develop them when I have focus time. This separation means I can eventually allocate some of my creative hours to other aspects of the work: maybe illustrations to make concepts more visual, or a rebrand to better reflect where this publication is heading, or even audio versions for people who prefer listening.
Maybe not today, but eventually I will have a collection large enough where I can take those risks. Where I can experiment with new formats without sacrificing consistency.
So I guess all this is to say is that by doing the work, I am seeing myself level up. Not in some dramatic way, but in these small, compounding shifts that change how I approach the practice. I hope for those of you following along each week that this helps you in some way. As always, you are always welcome to email me, DM me, reach me on LinkedIn. Wherever. I’d love to chat.
P.S. I also want to wish a very happy birthday to my wife, and love of my life, Andrea, who just celebrated her 32nd birthday yesterday. Each time I write a post, it is time I use that otherwise would have been spent being with her. I am super thankful that she supports me in my journey. So for all of you, I just want you to know she is the best and I love her.
Happy birthday Andrea! Great piece
Happy birthday Andrea!