What did you do when you just can’t seem to start?
I was listening to an interview with Neil Gaiman, popular fiction author and genius storyteller.
He has a great system to get him to write and crush writer’s block.
It’s a very minimalist way of doing it too.
In short every time he has to write, especially a big project like one of his books, he sits down with his notepad and gives himself one single rule.
He can either look out the window, think and let his mind wander…or he can write.
The surprising thing, he says, is that after 10, 15 minutes of just thinking and aimlessly wandering, writing anything actually feels more interesting!
And that’s when he gets started.
In other words, when you give yourself constraints, you open up the doors to looking at what you know with fresh eyes.
It’s a great way to exercise your idea muscle when it comes to your product and the way you sell it too.
What if you sold to one super niche audience only? How would you do that?
What if out of the 10 products you sell, you were forced to only promote and prioritize one?
I’ve been thinking about this as I’m brainstorming ideas around my email newsletters.
More from Neil Gaiman….
When writing using this rule, he says that to him, the first draft is just “telling the story to himself”.
It’s what I’ve been doing with my daily emails, posting them just for me, in private and then unleashing them into the world once I’m ready.
Gotta be careful not to let this paralyze you, but it’s a nice way to test an idea.
Kind of like warming up before a workout.
The point?
Think about what constraints you can add to your offer to make it stronger and don’t feel bad for testing it before you put it out.
You should always test stuff. Whether it’s live or before launching it.
Want help with that?
