One of lessons I got from Art and Fear [affiliate link] was to not focus on ideas for a new piece of art, but instead to find ideas for Thousands of Variations and use that to produce A Life’s Work. I do that in the large with this blog, but you could also do it for each new post. If you have an idea for a post, try to think of two more that are closely related.

Sometimes, while writing, I realize that I need to explain something in an aside. Instead of doing that, I write that aside as a post first, which I can link to. The aside may not seem like enough, but I find that when I can give it its own space, I can expand on the idea. But I do it even if it seems short.

Another thing that happens in my first drafts, is that I discover in my first pass edit that a paragraph or two just doesn’t fit at all—it’s not an aside, I was just rambling. I don’t delete the text, I move it to my notes as the seed of a new idea. I discussed this in Write While True Episode 6: Editing First Drafts. If those paragraphs are developed enough, I’ll start a quick draft in my blog editor to look at later.

Finally, some posts are cohesive, but just too long. Those can usually be broken up into a few parts, which make it easier to digest. The individual posts are often easier to link to because they are focused. For example, I learned three lessons from Art and Fear, but by breaking out the “Thousands of Variations” into its own podcast, I got three podcasts out of those lessons, but also, this one is easier to refer to.