Create speculative outlines while writing notes
When you write a new note, add it to one or more outlines you’re maintaining, creating a new one if necessary. Overtime complete writing projects will self-organize. Ordinarily we make an outline when we start a writing project. This forces us to start with a blank page. By contrast, if we write new notes every day and notice how they relate to each other, these can accumulate into potential writing projects. When an outline feels “ripe,” we can pluck it and turn it into a manuscript through non-forcing and avoid the herculean start-up effort that comes with a blank page. Maintaining already-written notes in an outline is comparatively easy: just look at a pair of notes and ask: which comes first? Furthermore, to start a writing project with a blank outline, we need to already have some topic or angle in mind. We can use notes to avoid preconceived conclusions.
References
- Matushak, Andy. Andy’s Notes: https://notes.andymatuschak.org/Create_speculative_outlines_while_you_write