Start with the sentence

Most advice says to outline first. I’ve found the opposite works better for short pieces: write one sentence you actually believe, then find out what it needs.

One true sentence

A true sentence is a small promise. It tells you what the next sentence owes the reader. If you can’t write one, you don’t have a post yet, you have a topic.

A topic is where you start looking. A sentence is where you’ve already found something.

Let the draft be ugly

The first pass is for you. Cut it down once you know what it was trying to say, and not before.

That’s the whole method. It fits in one paragraph, which is the point.