Looking back at all the tools and techniques that I've developed over the years as a writer, it occurs to me that most of them are, in one way or another, grappling with two critical mental forces: the power (and weakness) of human memory, and the sometimes overwhelming drive to procrastinate.

Shawn and I start almost all our writing by journalling in long- hand (pencil and paper); either Morning Pages, or any expression of freewriting (see Accidental Genius, one of our favorite nonfiction books of all time).

We’ve found there is no better way (for us) to bump into non- obvious ideas and discover meaningful head-slapping insights than by ... See more