What happens to my mind when writing?

Finding out what my thoughts and Thomas Edison have in common.

I always felt so pumped when it came to writing. Since I was in middle school, it reflecting on my experiences almost came naturally to me. I literally kept my journal on a plain blue notebook, and I even reflected on my reflection with the phrase “This will one day be published as a book, I swear”.

But then, overstimulation and overflow of information happened in my brain and it just stopped. It stopped thinking and producing flows of words and thoughts because it all came and went by so quickly. I had to write down articles for my master’s degree and nothing, literally NOTHING felt interesting enough to unfold.

I tried a lot of methods I found online, I even tried to follow some of my colleagues’ advice, but nothing helped. I felt like Thomas Edison, I knew so many ways NOT to make a light bulb work, but not one to actually make it work.

So I had to reroute.

I chose to not just write about stuff, but to write exactly what I think about that stuff. I’m not a fan of opinion sharing, especially in this era of polyphonic oversharing, but since I’m asked to state my thoughts, this I will do.

So before I start writing about a subject, I research some basic knowledge around it — maybe three to four relevant articles. It helps me get inspired regarding the scope of my opinion placement. Besides that, it also helps me find some interesting quotes, that I could structure my article around.

After that, you come face to face with the “blank page” syndrome. You have to be brave and battle with the first line that never occurs easily. At that point, I have to alternative routes:

1. If I have a clear subject in my head, I write down the headline first, so that it helps me stay focused on my subject. It might change in the end, but you get the logic.
2. If I don’t have a clear route in mind, I leave the headline for the last part and fill it out after I‘ve finished my writing.

But, again, what do we write about first?

I had a revelation one day, that everything — EVERYTHING — can be linked to one’s personal experiences. So this is what I do. I link every subject with one of my personal experiences, whether that is a memory, or a hobby, or even just my thoughts.

Read the first paragraph of this article again, I’ll wait.

See? I did that again. From then on, it just comes more naturally to me. I write on and on and then throw in some quotes to link my thoughts, or even to justify some of them.

I am inviting you to try this method. It might not work for you, because this is just my method, but hey, at least you will know one more method that does not help you produce content.

This way of thinking never failed Thomas Edison though.