I’ll also use chunks as thought-starters for exploratory writing. In essence, I’m keeping an inventory of thoughts on my computer. I’m stockpiling ideas, stories, and prose

Gather what you encounter along your way and don’t let any good idea go to waste. You might read a certain book in hope it could be useful for one of the papers you write. Maybe you are wrong, but it still might contain some interesting thoughts worth keeping and useful for something else you haven’t thought about yet.