I don’t have anything planned to write today, so I’m going to do an experiment. I’m going to write whatever comes into my mind, to prove that in a pinch, I can write something cogent and useful.
I ordinarily have an idea set aside about what I want to write the following day. Nothing elaborate, just a few notes or bullet points. Yesterday, all I had was a one-sentence quote from author Ryan Holiday about deciding what you want to get out of something you’re about to read before you read it. That one sentence was enough to get me started and it turned into 300 publishable words.
A simple writing prompt, in this case that quotation, can be enough to start with because it taps into the subconscious mind, which is filled with information, memories, ideas, questions, and answers we’ve stored. We think about them or remember them and spit them out onto the page.
Sometimes, more often than you might think, this is all we need to write a workable first draft.
But it takes practice. Writing every day strengthens your writing muscles and makes you a better (and faster) writer.
And that makes you better at everything else you do in your practice.
To develop your writing skills, I suggest you schedule time for daily writing practice. Even 15 minutes helps. You can write about anything. Or nothing. Jot down something you saw or heard or thought about or want to know.
And do it again tomorrow.
Sometimes, you’ll turn a good phrase and want to share it. Sometimes, you’ll write something you want to bury in the backyard. It’s all good. It’s just practice.
Eventually, with enough practice, you’ll be able to quickly write a decent first draft. Even when you have no idea what to write about.
Like (I hope) I did today.
