We’ve romanticized the creative process. We imagine the novelist staring at the sea until a lightning bolt of genius strikes. But if you talk to the most prolific columnists in London or New York, they’ll tell you that “inspiration” is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and start turning the crank.
Here is why relying on how you “feel” is the fastest way to mediocrity—and how to build an editorial system for your own output.
1. Action Precedes Emotion
We think the sequence is: Feel inspired → Start working. In reality, the sequence is almost always: Start working → Feel inspired. Writing—or any complex task—is like an old car in a cold winter. You have to turn the engine over a few times before it runs smoothly. If you wait until you feel “ready,” you’ll be waiting until the heat death of the universe.
The Editorial Insight: Mood follows action. If you want to feel motivated, you have to do the work that creates the motivation.
2. The “Ugly First Mile”
In the feature department, we know the first 500 words of any draft are usually garbage. They are just the “clearing of the throat.” The mistake most people make is they look at those first 500 words, realize they are bad, and quit. They think, “I’m not in the zone today.” * The Rule: Give yourself permission to be terrible for twenty minutes. Once you get the “ugly” words out of the way, the “good” ones have space to breathe.
3. Lower the Barrier to Entry
When a reporter is stuck, I don’t ask them to write the story. I ask them to tell me what happened over a cup of coffee. Suddenly, they are fluent. Why? Because the pressure is off.
The Strategy: Stop trying to “Write a Report.” Try to “Note down three observations.”
The Action: Use a “place-holder” headline. Instead of staring at a blank page, type: “Something about the new budget goes here.” It breaks the seal of the white screen.
4. Respect the “Closing Time”
The most productive journalists aren’t the ones who work 14 hours a day. They are the ones who know exactly when they are done. Creativity requires boundaries. If your work day has no end, your brain will subconsciously procrastinate because it knows it has “all night” to finish. Set a hard deadline. Treat your 5:00 PM like the printing press is about to roll. You’ll be amazed at how quickly “inspiration” arrives when the clock is ticking.
