Never Start with a Blank Page

I have to write a blog post for this newsletter. But staring at an empty screen, the cursor mocks me. It flashes like it’s expecting brilliance.

Or anything really. 

But I have nothing. 

No ideas, no sentences, no characters, nothing to write.

No spark.

Starting with a blank page is a terrible idea because not only does it put extra pressure on me to come up with something on the spot, it also assumes that great ideas come fully formed.

The truth is that most of us can’t think of a something amazing on the spot and great ideas nearly always come in fragments. A clever title might appear to us in the shower or a question, phrase, or concept show up.

 Great ideas take time.
And if you want to have more of them, here are three strategies to never start with a blank page. And none of them use ChatGPT.

1. Write everything down.

   Create an idea bank. A list of blog topics, collect interesting phrases from books you read, make a running list of questions as thought-starting prompts. Then, when it’s time to write, you’re never starting with a blank page. You’re just building off the thinking you’ve already been doing.
   
   One strategy is to have an easy-to-access note on your phone. Maybe in the Notes app, Notion shortcut if you use that, voice notes, texts to yourself, etc. And at the end of the week, as part of your wrapup ritual, review and file the notes.
   
   It’s much easier to build a fire when you have one going already. No one wants to collect all the kindling and wood and search for a spark every time.

   Capture your sparks and keep the fire going.
   

2. Reuse Your Sawdust
   Imagine that you’re a carpenter. You’re building furniture and shelving out of big hunks of wood (it’s the professional term, don’t worry about it). Every time you cut that wood, you’re generating some sawdust.
   
   That sawdust came from rich wood.
   Most people would just throw that away. But what if you thought about it as valuable? Jason Fried, founder of Basecamp, introduced me to the idea of selling your byproducts. Take that sawdust and repackage it as other content. Other products. That paragraph that didn’t make it in the final draft of the blog? Use that to spark another post. Make that paragraph into a social post. Or something even bigger.
   
   Repackage what you might otherwise see as garbage. It’s great stuff!

3. Play The Hits
   As creators, you might believe that you have to be original in everything you do. Every new thing you make has to be so completely different from the last thing. I know that I feel that way with every blog post.

   
   But if you have an audience, they might not want you to be so unique with everything you do. Imagine yourself as a rock band. Your fans don’t only want to hear new stuff. Play the hits! How can you take ideas you’ve had before and write them in a different way? Or just simply edit them to be relevant a few weeks or months later? What’s going on in the world that might be related to things you’ve already shared?
   As Andy J Pizza says, Play Your Hits.

And, if you HAD to, you can always ask ChatGPT for ideas. But know that it’s not as smart as you are.

Good luck out there. Making stuff sure is fun but it’s not always easy and the journey to get to great is challenging. If you need some structure and accountability to show up every day and create, come work with us in The Cave.

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Caveday is a company aimed at improving your relationship to work. We write regular posts on Medium and send out monthly newsletters with productivity tips, life hacks, and recommendations. Sign up for the mailing list here.

Jake Kahana is a cofounder of Caveday. Sign up for his personal emails, called “The Email Refrigerator” here.