How I dealt with friction in my content process

Often when I get stuck, the best thing for me to do is to write about why I'm stuck.

These were written on January 5. I was struggling with Chapter 3 of The Referral Guide, which is the biggest writing project I have ever undertaken and shipped. I literally feel like a different person from when I started.

1/ Had a really difficult time with some content recently. Feel like it's worth talking about, 1 instance of a broader problem worth solving

2/ I felt it was a really important thing that needed to be written, that didn't exist in any form that satisfied me. So I started.

3/ I typically start by listing out everything I know that is interesting, relevant, compelling. Examples, anecdotes, Other People's Work.

4/ I then play around with all of this information, like a kid with LEGO. I try different combinations. Look for elegant overall framework.

5/ Here things get messy. I start developing several parallel frameworks. Each has its own strengths + weaknesses. None is clearly #1.

6/ Can't successfully internalize everything inside my head. Start over several times. Anxiety. Data begins to look meaningless.

7/ some downtime probably necessary. Fresh eyes required. Go for walk. Sleep. Need to see forest, not trees. Ask again- why doing this?

8/ Something clicks: Something critical was unspecified. "Why does this matter? What do people typically miss? What's the gut-punch?"

9/ Story finally reveals itself. Every single element defers to her. Irrelevant elements bow out. Writing transitions from slog to joy.

10/ Million dollar question: How do you get to the story faster? Some slog necessary, but must it be so protracted + painful?

11/ the short answer is some sort of structure / discipline / framework. Be disciplined in one area so you can be wildly chaotic in another

12/ Just as startups are before product-market fit and after product-market fit, writing might be before-story and after-story. GET TO STORY

13/ Sometimes you write magic without really trying. This is when the story was fermenting in you all along. Eg: Eloquent rage responses

14/ A knowledge of the various states will take a lot of the pain and anxiety out of the process.

15/ Meaning-making aids, nay, LEADS decision-making. What do we focus on? What does it mean to us? What do we do about it?@visakanv

16/ When you are trapped, you need a story to get yourself out. The universe is made of stories, not of atoms. What will be your verse?

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