Write with a question in mind

Here's my writing dream scenario:

It's 8 am, and I sit down at my desk. Coffee in hand, headphones on, I'm feeling good. I glance at my reading notes for five minutes, then hit it...

My fingers fly over the keys. Ideas pour onto the page. I'm dialed in, engaged, in flow.

After 45 minutes—boom. My post is done. I feel accomplished and gratified.

Sounds nice, right?

For most writers, this is pure fantasy.

Writing is hard and flow states are rare. For new writers especially, the process feels slow, grinding, overwhelming.

The good news is, you can make it significantly easier.

Here's the reframe that unlocked a new level of clarity for me: Write with a question in mind.

This comes from Mortimer Adler's "How to Read a Book." He actually said "read with a question in mind," but the concept applies perfectly to writing.

To be prolific, you need a topic you're intensely curious about. But "topic" is too broad—you have to keep refining. The way to do that is to distill your topic into a specific question.

Here's the framework:

Topic: What do you write about?
Sub-topic: What aspect feels most compelling, important, or valuable?
Core question: Turn that sub-topic into a question.

Here's how my version looks:

Topic: Online writing & copywriting
Sub-topic: How to become a more prolific online writer
Core question: What stops people who want to write online from actually writing and publishing? And how can they overcome it?

See the clarity this provides?

I don't wake up wondering what to write about. I've got my question—What stops people from writing and publishing?—and things flow from there.

I can write about habits. Reading systems. Routines. Writer psychology. These are big topics, but my core question gives me an angle into each one.

That's the power of writing with a question in mind. It turns vague interest into focused exploration, and that's where flow states live.