Evielyn Chapman

Capturing ideas is the single most important thing I do as a creator everyday.

It's a cornerstone habit that cascades into every part of my content creation. When I sit down to 'do content' I don't have to spend any time brainstorming ideas. I have more than enough ideas to work with because I've captured them beforehand.

By cultivating a Capture Habit everything else down the line feels easy.

So why do so many creators struggle to build a capture habit? It comes down to four mistakes (that can actually be easily fixed)

Saying I'll Write It Down Later. I've been known to stop in some weird places to capture ideas (think voice memos in the middle of the ocean into my Apple Watch). Stop saying I'll write that down later. You won't.

Judging Your Ideas Before You Capture Them. Too many of us judge our own ideas before they even have a chance to breath. Don't do that. Make your capture habit a judgement free zone. Then spend time later processing & judging.

Having Too Many Ways To Capture Things. Stop stashing things everywhere and have one clear way to get all your ideas to the same place. Then practice over and over again using that one way capture system.

No System For Review Your Captures. Capturing is a good first step. But if you don't have a repeatable and reliable way to review those ideas you'll still be coming up short every writing session. So, make a weekly appointment with yourself to explore your ideas inbox and then move ideas into different piles - things to tweet, things to write, things to think about.

Practice Makes Permanent. Don't let these four mistakes hold you back from building a successful capture habit.

I had a different essay I wanted to publish today on how I'm using AI in my writing process.

But after about an hour & 25 edits it wasn’t coming together. So I stopped & asked WHY?

And a flood of existential questions just flowed out of me.

So welcome to todays essay. We're I have no answers only questions:

• Can we really use AI to write for us and then pass it off as our own?

• If my audience knew that AI wrote this would they feel cheated by me?

• If I found out something I read was produced by AI would I feel cheated?

• How do I use AI and still feel deeply connected to my writing?

• Is writing just a commodity now?

• Where do ideas really come from? If I'm the one wielding the tool is it me who is essentially generating the ideas or am just a passive observer.

• Can I train AI to think like me? So it becomes an extension of me, an external part of me?

• If the idea didn't generate in my brain is it really mine to write?

• Is it the tool that is smart or the person using the tool?

• Am I afraid that mediocre writers will use it to write & grow an audience that they didn't 'earn'?

• Did people feel the same about other leaps in technology?

• Who owns the copy/copywrite that AI produces?

• Do ideas feel more 'mine' when I have fought for them rather than just being generated in seconds?

• Will my brain get dull because AI will take over the parts that keep me sharp like discovering knowledge & connecting ideas?

• Or will I evolve into something even more powerful?

I’m not here to answer the questions or sit in judgement. I’m just here in the awkward messy middle of wrestling with my thoughts. And that’s OK.

Constraints are a creative person's best friend.

Most of us live in hope that if we can throw off the constraints of our life we'll finally reach peak creativity. We dream about quitting our job, going full time - thinking no constraints are the answer.

But maybe constraints are a feature & not a bug for our creativity?

If we use them correctly creative constraints are like bumpers in bowling. They help us to hit the pins without getting off track. And in some cases they make us even more creative (think about how creative you need to be to stay WITHIN the lines).

Applying creative constraints has been a major factor in me going from 'wannabe' creator to actually shipping a heck of a lot of creative work in the past 3 years.

3 Constraints I Apply Daily To Get Creative Work Shipped 🚀

Publish Daily. Everyday I wake up knowing I will publish something that day. The constraint keeps me on the lookout for new ideas, gets me in my writing chair at 5am each morning & pushes me to be creative even when I don't feel like it.

300 Word Essays. Not one of these essays is over 300 words. Is it hard to cut out things I think are amazing? 100% Does it make me a better writer in the process 100%.

60 Minutes. I give myself no more than 60 minutes to write content each day. This is a real constraint in my life - I have a full time job. Could I do more if I had more time? Maybe. But the constraint helps me beat procrastination & perfectionism in my writing.

Stop viewing your constraints as a bug and start using them as a feature.

Most creators spend the majority of their writing time... writing content.

And at first, this seems logical. You need to create content right? But if the only time you ever write is to produce content - you're on a downward spiral to burnout.

Instead, I spend 80% of my time 'Think Writing' and 20% 'Content Writing'

Think writing is just the process of thinking about ideas without having to think about 'content' things like headlines or hooks, or formats. It's your time to sit and simply explore the idea.

When I spend time Think Writing ideas start to get permanently embedded in me. I start to embody the knowledge that's growing. It becomes a part of me.

And when knowledge is a part of you content writing takes MUCH less time. I can bang out an essay in less than 30 minutes a day because the prep work has been done in my Think Writing Time days, weeks, and months before.

Here are 3 ways to start a 'Think Writing' Habit:

1. Collect Sparks. Take notice of new ideas, collect interesting things that spark you from books, podcasts, and tweets. Dump them all somewhere and call it your "Spark Inbox."

2. Use Your Sparks As Prompts To Think. Then each day take a Spark and start writing. Writing is a catalyst for thinking. So just keep writing everything you know, connect the dots & write until you've explored that idea fully.

3. Form Knowledge. Get in the habit of formalising your ideas. Now you have done lots of thinking, start to organise it into a simple Atomic Note that you can slot into your knowledge bank.

And guess what? All those sparks, ideas & knowledge become the building blocks for compounding content that you can use over & over again.

You don't need more time ⏰ to produce more as a creator.

I'm a creative at heart. I like wide open spaces, to be able to focus on my ideas and be creative. And it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if only I could get more creative space in my life, I could produce more as a creator.

So why is it that on my most free creative days do I rarely get anything shipped?

Because creativity is a fun companion, but a terrible task master.

And while creative space is an important part of the process, if you don't balance it with creative structure you'll find it hard to produce any results.

Structure is how you hone all that beautiful raw creative energy into real, tangible outcomes.

The Most Prolific Creators Master These Three Creative Structures:

Discipline. Routines, habits, rituals. Sitting down at the keyboard every.damn.day to just get the work done. Play and have fun - but then have some kind of discipline or routine that gets you to sit and get the work done.

Deadlines. Give me a good kitchen timer and I'll get a 2 hour task done that I've been procrastinating on done in 30 minutes. Combine creative space with good deadlines and you'll find things can move along quite quickly.

Constraints. Creative people love to hate constraints. But secretly they actually make us MORE creative. This essay is a constraint. It can't be longer than 300 words. That's a constraint I apply. And so I have to use my creativity to get my message across in a limited amount of words.

If you're relying solely on your creativity to ship work, you're not going to get very far. Use Discipline, Deadlines & Constraints.

Any creator knows they live or die by their systems.

And I guess that's why so many of us are on the hunt for the perfect system. Except for most creators I speak to are either failing miserably, always tweaking their system (& never actually using it), or always on the lookout for something better.

In reality, there's probably nothing wrong with your content system.

What you need are better habits or routines that get you regularly back into the system. You can have the best system in the world, but if you don't build a habit of using it - it will just collect dust.

So here are three habits every creator should be building alongside their creator system.

Take Notice. Most of us live life on auto-pilot hardly noticing anything going on around us. Except there is so much gold in the world that is crying out for us to take notice, capture & think about. If you constantly have blinkers on, open yourself up & discover a world of possibility for content. Practically, get off your phone, take a deep breath and move.

Write & Think. Find a time everyday where you can just think & write. Not content, just ideas. Just a place to be curious, to learn, and to let your brain do what it does best - be curious & create connections.

Hit Publish Daily. I'm not talking about publishing a 2000-word article everyday. But building the habit of putting your ideas out into the world daily will speed up the rate at which you have ideas, can test ideas, stop overthinking your ideas. The discipline is good for you.

If you can build these three habits you'll need to worry much less about a perfect system.

You don't need a better content system as a creator - you need a knowledge-building system.

A content system is designed to create content. Which sounds good in theory. But creating content alone over a long period will soon start to feel like you're on a hamster wheel to nowhere.

A knowledge system on the other hand is designed to create... knowledge. And when you create knowledge & content together it compounds. So every time you publish you feel like you're building to a beautiful crescendo.

The Four Key Ingredients Of A Creator's Compounding Knowledge System

1. A Way To Capture Ideas. Ideas are your lifeblood. Don't let them go. Make idea capture simple & easy by having one way to capture & one place to store ideas.

2. A Space To Think. Most creators only ever write when they need to produce content. But if you want to build deep ideas you need space to think & write - not content. Just about your ideas (& this actually speeds up content creation in the end)

3. A Process For Content Production. Once you have ideas you'll need a clear process or production line for getting that content published. This will become actually become easier the more time you spend in your thinking space.

4. Collect Signal & Remix. This final piece of your system is where you start to see your content really compound. Bring back your published content into your system, pay attention the signals it received (likes, comments, shares, conversations) & then remix it in new ways.

If you treat it right your Twitter Feed can serve you up some of the most delicious insights & ideas.

For instance, today while casually scrolling through my feed I had three separate pretty powerful & thought-provoking insights come up.

One was something practical I want to implement, another was connected to an idea that's brewing and the third was something deeply personal that I want to explore further through journalling & writing.

And it's not unusual for me to get these kind of insights daily from my Twitter feed. In fact, I get more insights from Twitter these days than I do from books or articles.

If you're not getting insights like this regularly from your Twitter feed you're either:

• Following the wrong people

• Not sure how to take notice of sparks & insights

• Or you don't have a foolproof way to capture them

How I Find Deep Insights From My Twitter Feed Daily:

Curate Your Feed. I only have one condition when deciding if I will follow someone and that is - are they interesting? I want my feed to be full of thought-provoking, interesting thoughts & ideas. Decide on some clear boundaries of what you want to see in your feed and follow only those kind of people.

Notice Sparks. Instead of mindlessly scrolling -> Start mindfully scrolling. Every time you hear yourself saying 'That's Interesting' save that tweet with a small note explaining why it's interesting. That's it. That's the spark.

Fool-Proof Capture. I have one way that I capture notes & insights - Readwise. Anything that stands out to me I DM to Readwise with a quick note & it gets saved. All those notes eventually get into my Spark Inbox - which is where I spend most of my mornings thinking & writing.

I guarantee doing these three things will transform your daily experience on Twitter.

One of the biggest struggles I hear from so many creators is 'how do I find my niche?'

And honestly, I think we complicate this WAY more than we need to. For most creators who are building a personal brand online... they are their niche.

When I write, I AM the audience. I write to solve my problems & explore my journey as a creator. And that seems to resonate because my audience is also creators.

So stop trying to wrangle yourself into some kind of niche & just explore what interests you first (then figure out your niche along the way).

Here Are Four Niche Discovering Categories I Use:

Lessons I'm Learning. This is one of my favourite things to write about (since I'm learning new things all the time). I find this kind of topic always resonates with my audience especially when I talk about specific, practical takeaways.

Problems I'm Trying To Solve. Opening up about your shortcomings is like a highway to connect with your audience. And you can be sure if you are coming up against a problem, so are others.

Observations I'm Seeing. Sometimes what is obvious to you is not obvious to others. Those things are what I lean into. So write about what you observe - even if you think it's obvious. You never know - you may just hit on your niche.

Experiments I'm Trying. I love experimenting with different solutions for the problems I'm coming up against. Or just trying new ways to get things done. I find writing about them a great way to keep myself accountable & feel like 'we're in this together.'

Writing for yourself first helps you to stay interested in those early days, builds a deep connection with your audience & eventually reveals a specific niche you can build on.

Being a creator means mastering & balancing two important things:

👉 A deep creative practice

👉 A System to support that practice

Too much system without any creative practice & you'll start to feel like an empty robot just pumping out content. Too much practice without enough system and you'll end up feeling lost, and aimless & nothing will ever get finished.

Does either of those scenarios sound familiar? You might need a balance check.

Here's How I Balance Practice & System Daily As A Creator:

The Practice: Explore In The Writing Inbox

Every morning I wake up, open my writing inbox & start writing. I keep a whole bunch of notes I've taken from different sources in there and I choose a few from the list & just write about them. This isn't content - I don't have to worry about hooks or headlines or even making sense. I just explore & play with ideas.

The practice is my safe space, my creative place where I can prime the pump for any content I need to write that day.

The System: Work The Up Next Board

In the afternoon I open my Up Next Content Board & choose something to work on. I don't use a content calendar. Instead, I use a production line concept. I have a bunch of ideas (like order tickets in a restaurant) that I can choose from to work on. Most days I work a little on each idea, moving them forward incrementally. And then choose one to publish.

The system helps keep things organised but flexible & content feels easy to publish.

By separating the practice (explore mode) and the system (publishing mode) I'm able to feed my creativity & keep the algorithm (& my audience) happy.

Most of us go through our lives literally just running on a hamster wheel.

We wake up, we do the same things, we drive the same way to work, or eat the same meals, and we put things back in the same place.

And I'm always surprised at how much we don't stop to think about WHAT we are doing and WHY we are doing it. SHOULD we be doing it? COULD we do it a different way? Is there a different, smarter, more leveraged way we could be living our lives?

But most people just don't think like this. They are just on auto-pilot cruising through life.

I'm constantly looking at my days & trying to figure out better ways to get things done. This is the framework I follow:

Check In Regularly. At the end of days/weeks/months/years I do a very quick review and ask myself a few questions. What worked, what didn't? What can I do to get more leverage, to feel more aligned? The prompts help me think about what's important to me and doing it at regular intervals gives me a clear stopping point & breaks me out of auto-pilot.

Make a Hypothesis. Next, I come up with a hypothesis. Just like in year 7 science class - I ask myself if I tried a different course of action would that result a different outcome?

Create An Experiment. Once I have a hypothesis I start an experiment. Usually, I set a 30-day period to try out a new way of doing something. When the time period is over I can decide whether I'll continue with the new way or try something else.

This works both for really important life things (like moving house which I've done recently) and also for really trivial things (like how I do my laundry).

On any one day I can have anywhere from 7-10 content ideas in different stages that I can choose to work on.

Now usually, I'm a fan of focusing on just one thing. But not when it comes to content ideas. I find if I lock myself into working on just one thing my creative spirit rebels.

So I like to have options.

Rather than lock myself into a strict content calendar, or push myself to publish something that's not sparking for me, I opt for flexibility. And that flexibility has been a key part of staying consistent with publishing content these last few years.

The Surprising Benefits Of Working On Multiple Content Ideas At One Time:

It keeps me interested. Rather than get blocked on any one piece of content, I can jump around into whatever takes my fancy for that day.

I can focus on energy. Because I have different pieces of content in various stages I can choose something that matches my energy for that day.

It makes my ideas better. Because I'm not working on content & publishing it on the same day I can come back to things, work on them a few days in a row & that makes them 100% better.

I'm not stressed by I have to create something today. Rarely do I create something on the same day I publish it. So there isn't a stress with new ideas - I can take my time and that increases my creativity.

It feels easy. Because I'm working on ideas incrementally it never feels like a big lift to get something published (even long articles or courses) because I can simply.

Next time you're blocked on some content, try switching to working on multiple ideas at one time & see if that helps with your consistency.

So many creators I speak to are scared to launch their first product.

I suspect there are a lot of reasons but the main one I hear is "Don't I have to have a big audience or following to launch a product?"

I launched my first product with 500 followers, no email list & I made $3k in 4 weeks.

Since then I've gone on to earn over $65k from digital products over 2 years. Do some launches flop? Yes. Have I refunded people when I couldn't deliver? Yep. Have I had to push back launch dates? Yep. Yep & Yep.

And yes. Launching is scary (& still is!)

So, here's my simple process to validate, launch (& then build) digital products.

Step 1: Look For Signal. Look back at the content that is resonating for your audience and ask yourself.. could I turn this into a product?

Step 2: Validate Your Idea. Ask your audience (in public or private): If I made this [your idea] would you be interested? If they say yes 🟢. If they say no 🛑. Simple.

Step 3: Announce a Pre-Launch. Create a quick page on Gumroad (or your preferred payment platform) and offer your product at 50% for the pre-launch stage. I'll do anywhere from a 1-3 week pre-launch (depending on how long it takes to build).

Step 4: Build your product during pre-launch. Trust me you'll be highly motivated to build when people start buying. Use every opportunity while you build to show your work (that's how you make more sales!)

Step 5: Launch 🚀

Congratulations! Now you've launched you also have a product that people can buy ANYTIME. And just wait until someone buys it while you're sleeping!

Traditional wisdom tells us we should have a lead magnet to 'trick' people into signing up for our newsletter

Because no one just signs up for newsletters anymore right?

WRONG.

Every day, no less than 5 people sign up for my newsletter without having to be coerced or 'tricked' by a lead magnet.

And I'll tell you why.

Businesses need lead magnets because their content is boring AF. So they need to offer an incentive to get people onto their email list.

But you're a creator. You create kick-ass content that people LOVE. And guess what happens when people love the content you produce? They usually want more.

In fact, they actively go looking for more of your content.

Wouldn't you like to have 100% of people who receive your newsletter happy & excited to have it in their inbox each week? Rather than 70% who are just there because you tempted them one time and they never open a single 'newsletter.'

Here's How To Build Your Newsletter Subscribers On Auto-Pilot:

Let Your Content Lead. Focus on creating great content & connecting with your audience.

Plug Your Newsletter Often. Personally, I use Hypefury to auto-plug my newsletter when a post gets a certain amount of likes.

Watch Your Subscribers Grow. You'll build a densely engaged list this way rather than a large list that is kinda interested.

Don't Get Me Wrong, this doesn't mean you should never have a lead magnet. They are very useful for getting people interested in your PAID offerings. But for getting newsletter subscribers alone trust your content to do the work for you.

I write much more for myself than I ever do for you (sorry, but not sorry).

That's right, what you read on my feed or my blog or my newsletter is only a small fraction of what I actually write each day.

Because writing to produce something quickly wears you out.

Instead of writing being a creative experience for you, it becomes locked into an outcome every time you write. That kills creativity, it kills curiosity and it's a surefire way to burn out and stop creating altogether.

Instead, here's how to build a personal creative writing practice that creates a solid foundation for ideas to flow.

Write What You Feel. I start each morning with a journal entry. Some people call this morning pages. Whatever you call it, start your writing session just by writing whatever is on your mind. Clear it all out and get ready for flow.

Explore Your Curiosity. Each writing session I sink deep into my spark inbox - which is basically just somewhere where I dump all my notes from things I've been consuming. I noodle around the ideas, looking for things that spark my curiosity. And then I write what I think.

Build Ideas. The more you explore your curiosity, you'll find ideas start to build. Not other people's ideas - but your own unique ideas that form out of the intersection of what you consume and your own thinking & unique perspective. The more you focus on these ideas the more they build.

And once you start writing for yourself first, you will find that writing for others and the production side of being a creator will actually flow much more easily.

Everyone tells you to follow the signals as a creator but what does that really mean?

As digital writers and creators, we have an opportunity that almost no other writer in the past has had. We get to write with our audience. We don't have to hide away and write in a cabin in the woods hoping that all our hard work will resonate.

Little by little, almost every day we can collect signals from our audience and let those signals guide us.

Here are 4 signals I collect from my content

Twitter Comments. Comments are gold for me as a writer. They indicate a much higher resonance than likes alone & usually they provide me with even more insight to keep writing. A question or comment can help me refine an idea or extend it into more content.

Twitter Likes & RT's. Secondary to that I am looking for engagement signals on Twitter. Did one tweet or content get more likes than usual? That's a good indication it will resonate in other places or that people will want to hear more about it.

Medium Highlights. If I could only give one reason for writing on Medium it would be to collect highlights from your writing. Medium has a built-in highlighting feature which means you get to see EXACTLY what resonates for your audience from what they highlight. Pay attention to that.

Conversations. Jumping on zoom calls with other creators is one the highlights of being a creator. Every time I have the opportunity to talk to others I'm listening intently to things they're asking, and comments their making & banking those away as opportunities for more content.

Don't ignore the signals you get from writing online. It will make you a better creator and help you resonate with your audience at a deeper and deeper level.

I've been building my personal creator brand for the last 2 years.

In 2 years I've grown from 0-18k here on Twitter and people are always asking me what the secret key or tactic or hack to unlock growth is.

For me, it's a dead simple equation... it's ME (or YOU if you're reading this)

I've never seen a creator grow on a platform they weren't personally invested in. Not just ticking off that their posts for the day are done. But investing in connections & conversations. Literally obsessed with the platform.

And all of that takes... TIME.

Because you didn't think this creator thing was going to be some magic carpet ride right? RIGHT? 🙃

This one mindset shifted me from 10 years of failed creative projects. Understanding that showing up in my power and energy every day (on whatever platform that expresses itself on) IS THE JOB.

It's literally my highest ROI task for the day.

But in the beginning, it doesn't always feel like that. In the beginning, it feels like an absolute grind (yeah we're doing real talk here today). And that's why you have to connect with as many people as you can in the beginning.

Because they make it fun when you're screaming into the void with your content.

But little by little. Day after day. By putting in the work and showing up... the ROI gets a little more evident, a little bit stronger. And before you know it your audience is BEGGING for you to show up.

So please remember this if you remember nothing from this essay... No one is you & that is your power.

I never try and push out content. If I don't feel the spark, I find something else to work on.

That might seem weak, or like I don't have any grit. But what I'm really doing is learning to listen & trust myself. It doesn't mean I don't lean into resistance when I need to. Learning to do hard things is much different than not having a spark for something.

(and learning to tell the difference can be the hardest lesson of all)

Trying to write something you're uninspired by creates a resistance to the act of creating itself. And that is a dangerous place to be in as a creator. But it doesn't mean you just give up and do nothing.

So Here are Four Things I Do When I Feel Uninspired...

Walk Away. Like literally walk. I lace up my shoes and just start walking. Walking clears my head, and paves the way for ideas like no other activity. Before I know it I'm rushing home to get all the creative ideas down.

Choose something else to write. I check back in with my Up Next content list and see if something else sparks me and write that instead.

Find something to read. When I don't feel a spark for writing I dive into my reading pile. Mostly this lives in Matter and I always found something interesting that leads to a new idea spilling onto the page.

Open my Spark Inbox. This is where I keep all my atomic notes on topics & areas of interest from what I've read & consumed. It's like a treasure trove of inspiration and I can always be guaranteed that something will spark me.

You don't have to push through when inspiration isn't hitting you. But you should always have a backup plan for inviting inspiration back into your routine.

I've been a daily creator from the beginning.

Back in March 2021, I started writing atomic essays every day on Twitter. It felt for the first time I had found the perfect medium to express my ideas consistently. I wrote hundreds of them that year.

But in 2022 I decided to write less daily essays and focus more on long-form content (because I thought that's what the 'grown up' creators do).

Except I felt like I lost my mojo.

What I realised is that my greatest power is in this little yellow essay. In showing up each day to wrestle with an atomic idea, practice my art & publish. Here's why:

It Primes The Pump. Knowing I'm going to publish something every day primes my creativity. It sounds counter-intuitive but rather than depleting my creative reserves, the more I write the more ideas I have. The action begets the action.

It Accelerates Things. Rather than posting 2x blogs a week, I get to take 365 shots on goal a year. And the faster I learn and am able to iterate.

Quick feedback loops. I don't have to wait very long for feedback on my ideas because I can get them out at an alarming rate and test them in the wild.

Trains me how to do hard things. It's not always easy (although I try to make it as easy as I can), but great things rarely come with ease. So it builds a resilience most don't have.

It gives you ideas to build on. Now you don't have to write long-form content from scratch. You've got lots of ideas to build on (& feedback on which ones resonate).

You might not write atomic essays. But finding a medium & a format you can share your atomic ideas regularly can be a catalyst for everything else you want to create.