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This is the 52nd issue of The Productive Disruptive.

Which means this newsletter has officially made it around the sun.

I’m so grateful.

I’m also playfully laughing cause the number of issues that were ready, suited, and booted smoothly?

Zero. Well, maybe not zero. But less than five.

Most weeks, I had a concept of a plan somewhere in my head(hate that I said that, but it shows just how from nothingness something emerged)

Then, often the day before, I’d sit down and try to turn that floating thought into something useful.

It’s messy.

It’s iterative.

And if 52 issues taught me anything, it’s this:

You can’t edit a blank page.

That’s one of my favorite writing reminders because it gives you permission to start.

It encourages you to capture an idea somewhere and polish it as you go.

So many people wait for clarity before they begin.

Or for motivation to find them in order to start.

But a lot of the time, clarity does not come before the work.

Clarity comes from the work. So start!

Call it v1. Call it beta. Remember the term rough draft? Baby, it’s usually rough, call it that!

That’s writing. It’s also storytelling.

Stories do not always arrive fully assembled.

But what are those pieces, and how can they be woven into a story?

A sentence in your notes app. A memory from five years ago. A statistic that bothers you. A social norm you disagree with. Something seemingly small but gnashing and gnawing away at your attention.

Can these, intentionally put together, create some story?

Absolutely.

But if you decide an idea isn’t worth capturing just because it isn’t fully formed yet, you might miss the gem it could become.

Here are three lessons from year one that I hope help you start, shape, and strengthen your own stories.

1. Start before the idea is fully formed.

A lot of ideas are a lil shy at first. They may not be ready to pop out yet.

You might have a memorable one-liner or soundbitey phrase and nothing else.

That’s plenty.

Starting means you are willing to create something.

2. Build a system that helps you.

I knew that if I wanted to make this thing long-term, I needed to templatize it.

Yes, you can’t edit a blank page.

But maybe also give yourself a lil boost to plug that idea into.

Because we all know the taunting of that blinking cursor. Just mocking us as we languish over a QWERTY and a blue light box, tricking our brains into staying up longer, extending this suffering.

Ugh, rude.

So each issue started with a few questions:

What’s a gap I’d like to close?

What’s the take-home message?

How do I tell that story?

What’s the science?

What tiny, tangible shift do I want the reader to leave with? and

Any cultural reference I can use as an anchor?

That structure helped. A LOT.

And over time, my template evolved too. As things naturally do.

3. Repetition develops voice.

People talk about the “10,000 hours” idea when it comes to mastery of a skill.

Whether it’s true or not(I’m leaning no, it’s giving 10,000 steps a day energy, which was a marketing gimmick)

The main idea is that if you implement something enough times, over a long enough period of time, you gon get good.

Practice changes the practitioner.

I was a writer before dipping my toe into this newsletter.

But 52 issues gave me focused, targeted reps in a new environment.

🛠️ The PHacilitator’s Corner:

This week, notice one idea, frustration, or question that keeps tapping you on the shoulder.

Put it on the page.

It can be a little story seedling. Now ask

What could this become if you gave it a little structure?

Stories have characters, villains, conflict, and tension. So play with those pieces.

Where does what you put down fit into those? Just pick one thing at a time.

You can even go out of order; you don’t need characters first.

I’ll say it again,

You can’t edit a blank page.

But you can grow something from a seedling.

Here’s to another year

PS: Last week, when I shared, I was pitching my Lord of the Flies story? It got picked up! Link below if you’re interested.

How’d I do?