I didn’t realize I’d already written much of my article.
As a matter of habit, I posted daily on Facebook about the cross-country trip I was taking with members of the Model A Ford club. Each evening I’d summarize the day’s highlights and post my best photos.
Only later did I realize those posts could form the backbone for a feature article I needed to write for the national Model A Ford club’s magazine.
With that understanding, I lost any anxiety about how I could find the time to write that article. I could relax; I’d already done most of the work.
Still, I couldn’t simply staple the posts together and call the work done. I would need to edit, augment, and reshape them. But rather than start from scratch, I had material with which I could work.
If you’re facing a big nonfiction project, check your journal, your blogs, and your social media posts. You’ll likely find ingredients too good not to recycle.
