WWN20: The 'Liver' method for endless ideas

Dear Write Way reader,

I type these words as I begin thirty-six childfree hours.

My parents are taking the kids overnight, and apart from a few trips here and there it’s the longest I’ve been in that state since October 2018.

So what better time to clamp my Lorenzeti between my teeth…

…puff some Peterson’s Early Morning Pipe…

…and talk to you about…

Life!

Specifically, the productive writing life. Because many people get this wrong.

They think that the next thirty-six hours are my productive time. And in the sense of time spent typing, I guess they’re right.

But that’s not really the productive time at all.

So let’s get into why.

But just before we do, Wade and I are running round two of the Ghostletter Seminars starting this Friday. In three 90-minute seminars (plus time for Q&A), we’ll take you the newsletter ghostwriting business model Wade has perfected.

(Perfected as in generates mid-six-figures a year while working twenty hours a week.)

We’ll teach you how to write the newsletters efficiently and effectively, how to get clients, how to retain and develop the client relationship, and how to turn that into the foundation of a robust business (or a killer side income) that can fund your lifestyle for a decade to come.

If all that interests you, we still have a few spaces left.

Go here to pick one up.

But no dilly-dallying because the cart will close when those last spots run out, or at midnight eastern US time tomorrow (Thursday) because the first session is on Friday.

Oh, and I’m also running a prize draw for participants. One lucky winner will get a free copy of Effective Editing (not currently for sale, but priced at $252 when it’s out of Beta and I relaunch it).

The way the draw works is this:

You get ONE entry for every copy of Ghostletter left when you buy. See the little counter below the “continue” button. So if it says “seven copies left” then buying will get you seven entries. Two copies left, you get two. And so on.

And even if you don’t win, I’ll have discounts for anyone who takes part.

But that’s all by way of a bonus, please only buy it if you’re interested in learning from the seminars…

If you are, then tap here to pick one up.

And meanwhile, back to our discussion of life with my ultimate commandment for a productive writing life:

Do NOT be a writer!

As part of my welcome sequence, I ask people "what do you struggle with most?"

I love that question because it lets me get to know you, and help you. And I’m slowly (very slowly) working through and replying to as many as I can directly.

But it also shapes all the content I produce here on the Write Way, the courses I create and more.

(In fact, my very first course “How to Write Bad” was created as a direct response to people saying their biggest struggle was perfectionism. And my material in session one of the Ghostletter Seminars is all about ideas, another common struggle.)

But something puzzled me when I first started getting replies…

…one of the most common answers I got was

"I don't know what to write about."

And that confused me.

Because why would you want to write if you have nothing to write about?

I mean, writing is hard.

Why go to all that work if you have nothing to say?

I pretty quickly realised…

…lots of people want to “be a writer” more than they want to write. Because it’s the identity they crave, they see it as a way to fame or fortune that doesn’t require being pretty or personable.

They're putting the cart before the horse, to use the old English saying.

Because here's the harsh truth.

If you don't know what you want to write about, you shouldn't be a writer.

Writing exists for a purpose. Writing is communication and creation. If you don't have anything to communicate, anything you want to create, why write?

If you don't know what you want to write about…

…you are not ready to be a writer.

Now, I guess the gurus like to sell it as an easy way to riches, and I should probably hammer that drum given that we’re closing the Ghostletter Seminars cart soon. But I won’t.

Because Wade and I disagree with that whole ethos. We are not marketers who write, we are writers who market (because otherwise our kids don’t eat and we’d have to go back to boring jobs as an accounting and a lawyer).

The whole Ghostletter business model is built around creating the freedom to pursue our own interested and writing on the side.

(In fact, Wade has gone one further, and designed his newsletter framework so that even when writing for clients he can write about whatever he wants to. It’s genius, but more on that on Friday for those who’ve signed up.)

But the whole point is that both of us found ourselves with a purpose that was best fulfilled by writing, one beyond “making money” or “building an audience” and then we did those in pursuit of that purpose.

Because making money and building an audience are tools, they're tactics. They're not the end goal. You need to know your end goal before you start. Sure, it might change. But if you're not working towards something you have no idea if you're making progress at all.

But James, I do not hear you ask but imagine you might be, what does all this have to do with the rather grandiose subject of living?!

Well, as Jesus the Christ said:

"out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks".

You naturally pour out in writing and speech, what you have first poured in through reading, thinking and living your real offline life.

Not to belabour the point but you can't draw water from a dry well, you can't pour wine from an empty bottle, you can’t smoke an unpacked pipe, you can’t build muscle on starvation rations, you can't make dinner from Old Mother Hubbard's barest of cupboards.

(Okay, I guess that is belabouring the point. But it’s worth belabouring.)

If you’re sitting there thinking “I don’t know what to write about?!” then stop worrying about what to write about.

You’re not ready to write yet.

Go read instead.

What should you read?

Read whatever interests you.

Read the classics of literature.

Every time you find something that jumps out, dive deep. Read their sources, read what they recommend, read what they were influenced by.

Build a body of knowledge and as you fill up your mind, you will naturally start to pour out what you have absorbed.

I decided to write about writing because it's a subject I love and I’m passionate about. I’m in love with the shape of you words.

As I've grown as a writer, I talk more about persuasion and storytelling. Soon I'm going to be talking more and more about shaping culture with powerful stories. About crafting a library of beautiful literature. About shaping your voice into one that is resonant and powerful. About rhyme and meter and narrative psychology.

All because I read widely and follow my interests.

But bringing it full circle, reading is not enough.

You also need to be a liver!

That's liver like live-er, one who lives. I couldn't think of a better word.

It's the second part of the equation and it’s what prompted all this today.

See, most of the people who run out of content ideas, of things to write about, are running out because they don't practice what they're preaching. I can talk about writing endlessly because I write constantly.

I've always got new struggles, new tips, new ways of working.

And I spend more time offline than online (or try to). Which means I have new experiences and new things to talk about.

When I sit down (well, stand up, but sit down sounds better) to write for the next thirty-six childfree hours I’m doing it brimming with ideas that grew out of the last thirty-six weeks of looking after my kids.

Of building trainsets and laughing with a two year old.

Of cleaning dirty pants and sighing at a three year old.

Of reading stories and smiling at a five year old.

And of a million other experiences both big and small.

The world is full of wonder and if you have no ideas, you're not paying enough attention.

So go out, read, live and soon you'll know exactly what you want to write about.

And until next time, may your pipe and your idea bank always be full.

James Carran, Craftsman Writer

fin

And a motivational postscript for premium subscribers…

But before that kicks off, just a reminder to sign up for the Ghostletter Seminars if that caught your fancy.

The link is here.

Interestingly, Wade has a fantastic hack to take ordinary stuff of your own life, and use it in client content. It made me slap myself for not thinking of it before, because it’s genius.

But more on that for buyers on Friday.

Meanwhile, Craftsman’s Corner, exclusive to current subscribers: