Writing a first draft can be a sure way to experience writer’s block (and get a really clean kitchen).
But last year I discovered two tools that free up my thinking:
Blank printer paper and 5×8 legal pads.
Previously, I’d write first drafts in notebooks. But notebooks felt permanent. Like the words had to be Important and intended to be Read Again.
That mindset dried up my ideas. And I would focus on silly things like making sure my handwriting was good enough for these Important Ideas.
With small legal pads and printer paper, I just crumple the paper up and throw it away when I’m finished. No expectation of keeping a relic.
And for me, they come with another mental-barrier-breaker: I keep both in practically limitless quantities, so they don’t feel precious and oh-my-goodness-I-better-not-waste-this-paper!
