Rands Writing Prompts #1 (January 27th, 2024)

Starting is the hardest part

Welcome.

When it comes to writing, the question I am asked most frequently is, “How do you write a book?” My standard helpful answer is a declarative, “100 words a day. No matter what.” This is good advice because, in my experience, the hardest part isn’t the writing; it’s building the habit of consistent writing.

In a recent 1:1, a co-worker asked me the write-a-book question, and as I prepared my standard response, I realized there was a more helpful and proactive answer, “I am going to send you three customized prompts. These are prompts designed for you. I’ve picked them because I know you can write about them right now, and all you need is a slight nudge.”

I’ve been extending this well-received offer to a larger group of humans over the past few weeks to a positive reaction. I’ve augmented the offer a bit, “No pressure. If these prompts don’t inspire it. Do something else.”

To me, that’s the key. Do you have an idea that inspires you? Writing is not a chore. We spent years in school seeing writing as the required task, and I am here to tell you that writing is an absolute joy. It’s how I understand the world, how I digest complex problems, how I explain, and how I inspire.

But it took years of work to build that perspective. Years of writing. Years of starting.

That’s all you need to do today. Find one idea that sparks your imagination and start writing.

Here are your first three prompts. I work in tech, so there will be tech bias in these initial prompts, but that will change as I find my stride.

• What’s a thing you can’t learn except at work?

• My definition of good execution.

• I consider a thing done when the following conditions exist.