What to Write About When You Don’t Know What to Write About
Very often, I find myself opening my documents and sitting down to start my next article. I like to pretend I know what I’m doing and amp myself up saying “Let’s do this!”
And often, I find myself with no idea what to write about. Even though I have an entire list on my phone full of hundreds of ideas, sometimes I just can’t get myself to start writing about them.
Sometimes it’s a matter of just getting started before I can get into the swing of things, and then I can introduce a topic that I free write about. I also have mind maps, but I’m not very good at them. I’m sure I’ll get better with time, but it’s frustrating.
I want the results now and it’s so hard trying to be patient.
One good thing to remember is that this is a long game. As long as you’re in this for the long haul, you can keep getting yourself to the chair, even if what you turn out is crap.
I had this idea introduced to me by Ryan Orrico, about writing for 20 minutes every single day, no excuse, no phone, no limits. You don’t have to write about anything specific. Just write.
Other people have similar ideas. Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, came up with the idea of morning pages, where you sit down and spew out whatever comes up for 3 pages. You write three pages of whatever is on your mind.
Many talk about the benefits of writing and journaling. Many greats swear by it.
It’s all about getting the thoughts out of your head and onto the page. I could never grasp this idea in college.
When I was writing essays, I was obsessed with it being right and not wanting to screw it up. I didn’t understand the necessity of the first draft.
We all get caught up with this idea of writing the perfect article, thinking that it’s just a matter of time before inspiration strikes. You think that you can wait for it to appear when it takes commitment to get there.
The truth is the first draft of anything is going to be messy and chaotic, but it sets the necessary ground work. If you can get that part out, you’ll see where your ideas are and you’ll have material to work with. Until you get it out, you’re not going to make any progress.
Every day, I make sure to spend twenty uninterrupted minutes writing. And it helps.
I’ll break down in the middle of my session and start writing about how I’m tired. Or when I can’t think of anything to say I’ll just start with whatever comes into my head even if it is, “The purple platypus said to the shrub, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll come out of your shell.’”
It’s about getting it out. And that’s it. Once you stop chasing the unicorn and expecting perfection, you let down your guards and let the creative juices start flowing. That’s when the real magic starts to happen.
Some of my best articles come from free writing and seeing what comes up. After I finish writing, I’ll browse through what I wrote and pick it apart for sentences I like and ideas that came up that I can write more about and fine tune.
It’s okay if you don’t know what to write about. It’s also okay if you don’t feel like writing. When you want to have a writing career, heck when you want to accomplish anything, the goal is never to get it right away. That’s never going to happen.
Nobody just sits down and writes the next great American Novel. They just keep showing up and trying. Even if they don’t feel like it, and even when they don’t know what to write about. You put one foot in front of the other, no matter how small the step is. You might not even go forwards.
But that’s how you make progress. You can’t make any progress if you never start. You have to keep going if you want to get anywhere in life.
