5 protocols to never stare at a blank page again as a tech writer
A framework to never run out of ideas.
Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another edition of Smarter Engineers.
This is part 2 of a 5-part series on habits and science-based protocols for energy, better focus, and getting things done.
This is what we’ll cover throughout the week:
5 protocols to never stare at a blank page again as a tech writer (this post).
5 routines for better rest to set you up for a great day the next morning.
5 exercises to become a healthier knowledge worker.
5 systems to sustain work without burnout forever.
This is a paid post, and here’s the agenda for today:
Why writing is a superpower for tech professionals in the age of AI.
The 5 protocols that will make you a prolific writer.
A custom ChatGPT prompt to brainstorm ideas when you have “writer’s block.”
Let’s dive in!
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Writing is your superpower in the age of AI
You think mastering the newest framework will set you apart from the crowd.
I hate to break it to you but you are wrong. Technology comes and goes and people have shown a relentless ability to adapt for centuries. Still, most people don’t know how to express themselves even if they are skilled in what they do for a living.
And here’s where you can use that to your advantage.
The power of good writing is invaluable. We are drawn to stories and ideas. We can recognize good writing from bad writing in a matter of seconds.
We can discover if something is written from the mind and soul of a human being or if it’s just a regurgitated slop from a stochastic parrot.
You can leverage the power of writing as a tech professional to:
Build a personal brand online.
Increase your skillset for negotiations.
Clarify your ideas and reduce brain fog.
Create an audience to sell your products to.
And if you never want to run out of ideas again when on your writing journey, I have 5 protocols that will help you overcome “writer’s block“.
I have been using these for the past two years and I have been able to consistently publish my weekly posts for more than 9 months now.
Let’s dive straight into them.
Use these 5 protocols to never stare at a blank page again.
1. Start with your headline
The headline is the most important part of anything you write.
It is what grabs the reader’s attention.
It is the determining factor of your piece being read or not.
But here’s where most people get it wrong: they try to be clever instead of being clear.
You want to aim for having headlines that tell the reader exactly what they are looking for:
Include numbers (like 5).
Include the WHO (like tech writers)
Include the WHAT (like 5 protocols)
Include the WHY (like to never stare at a blank page ever again)
When you read the headline for this article you know exactly what to expect.
And remember: it’s not clickbait if you deliver on the promise.
2. Prep the page.
Never start writing without having a clear plan of what you want to write and how you want to structure it.
Most online writing consists of:
An intro.
The main points.
Conclusions.
Some CTAs.
So, instead of diving into writing your piece right away, I would suggest you prep the page first.
You:
Write your headline.
Write the sub-headlines of your main points.
Before the first sub-headline, you have space for your intro. After your last sub-headline, you have space for your conclusions. After the conclusions, you place your CTAs.
After you have your structure in place, you can start filling in the spaces with the actual content of your piece.
This serves two purposes:
It helps you have more clarity on what you want to write about.
It helps the reader skim through your piece to determine if it’s interesting in a matter of seconds.
This is how you win in the online writing game: clarity for you and your reader.
3. Have an easy note-taking system.
Most people complicate taking notes.
As a writer, you know coming up with ideas can be a bottleneck for your writing process. That’s why it is good practice to have a note-taking system that allows you to capture ideas as soon as they pop up.
This is what you don’t need that system to be:
A Trello board.
A Notion template.
A fancy spreadsheet.
You want to keep it simple or you will not have a good time capturing ideas.
Here are my favorites:
Have a notebook and a pen with you at all times.
Have a
brain-dump.txtfile on the desktop of your PC.
No structure in any of these documents.
You only need to write ideas as fast as possible and then go through them when you have time.
That’s it.
4. Write atomic essays
The best way to practice your writing is to write.
The best way to write is to start with atomic essays.
These are usually 800-word posts about a single topic and they follow the structure mentioned in the second point above:
Intro.
Main points.
Conclusions.
The way to become a prolific writer is to write one atomic essay on any topic for 7 consecutive days.
After you have published them all, review your stats and see which got the most engagement.
Then, rewrite these topics for a slightly different audience.
The more you practice, the easier it becomes to produce these pieces. The more feedback you will get from your audience. The more you can iterate on writing about things that people actually care about.
Remember that writing is a skill like any other.
Practice it and you will blow past 99% of people.
5. Use the 10 magical ways
This is pretty straightforward and comes from Nicolas Cole.
I saw this in a video where he goes through a writing framework using AI.
The essence is that whenever you don’t know what to write about, just pick any topic and choose one of the ten magical ways to expand on that topic.
The ten magical ways are:
Tips
Stats
Steps
Lessons
Benefits
Reasons
Mistakes
Examples
Questions
Personal Stories
They fit almost any topic, so if you mix and match, you can virtually generate infinite ideas to write about.
A custom ChatGPT prompt to brainstorm ideas when you have “writer’s block”
Here’s a go-to ChatGPT prompt I use to generate infinite writing ideas based on my niche, interests, and audience.
Give it a try:
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