Ideas improve by writing about them not by thinking about them
Letting our minds wander is a critical part of the creative process, but when it comes to making progress on ideas there is no better way than writing.
Writing brings clarity by forcing us to reflect on experiences and make sense of our thoughts.
In order to write a sentence, words must be strung together coherently as thoughts in your mind. In the wake of mental progress, words fall to the page as clear articulations of thought. Thus, it is safe to say that writing brings clarity, clarity facilitates insight, and insight informs action, which facilitates learning, which leads to improvement.
If this relationship between writing and thinking is cultivated with intention, it is possible to create a system that consistently outputs ever-improving ideas along with prolific writing.
When you sit to write, thoughts in your mind lead to words on the page, and words on the page feed the thoughts in your mind. It’s a regenerative system where the output of each process becomes the input of the next process. Writing feeds thinking and thinking feeds writing. Writing is thinking.
This site—this page, in fact—is a product of the regenerative process of writing and thinking. While these notes are written for myself, I host them publicly as my digital garden in effort to build a body of work, explore my web of thinking, and hopefully connect with others with whom my ideas resonate.
Publicly sharing your writing—your thinking, really—is a good way to refine ideas over time. Also, public notes build authority and trust, which are foundational elements of strong relationships.
It’s for these reasons I put intention into my digital ecosystem and work to build behaviors, processes, and systems to help me explore, understand, and improve my ideas. The system helps me think clearly, which is what I need most in order to navigate my way forward.
🚧 ⚠️ Rough Terrain Ahead ⚠️ 🚧
🛑 What’s this? ✍️ This whole note is a work in progress, but the below part is really rough. So why’s it here? Share ideas before they’re ready.
It’s not a writing system, it’s a thinking system whose byproduct is writing, and it’s starting to find its groove.
Tools for managing information overload and improving how we think are on the rise.
To improve ideas it’s helpful to have a foundation to build upon. This foundation starts with your note-taking abilities:
- How I take smart notes
- Take notes in your own words while reading, watching, and thinking
- Notes should be densely linked
- Obsidian is for building my body of work
- learn in public