A Writing System to Beat Analysis Paralysis

In a recent coaching session, a writer shared a perfect analogy for how writing works as a discovery process. He told me about starting therapy.

"Why are you here?" said the therapist.

"I don't know."

But since he was paying for an hour, he figured he better find something to talk about. So he just said the next thing that came to mind. By the end of the session he still didn't know why he was there. All he knew was that he felt better.

After a few months of this, he had completely changed his life. He ended a 10-year relationship, switched careers, and was getting ready to move to a new country.

He started off not knowing. Then he said the first word that came to mind. And then the next one. Like a string of yarn, he just kept pulling up the next word in chains of thought. Eventually the idea was bare.

Writing works the same way.

Why are you here? the blank page seems to ask.

I don't know.

But you've committed to the time, so you just start typing. Just like therapy, the act of showing up and engaging with the process is what reveals what you actually have to say.

You don't need to know your message before you start writing. The writing is the process through which you discover your message.

Overview

This writing system addresses the common problem of analysis paralysis — when smart, analytical people get stuck because they feel they need to figure out what to say before they can write.

Writers feel stuck for different reasons.

Sometimes they feel like they have nothing to write about. These writers stare at the infamous blank page, and the blank page stares back.

Other times they feel like they've painted themselves into a corner, so to speak. They started writing about one idea. But then they followed a new chain of thought that brought them into unknown territory. Now what was I writing about? Ah yes.

In both cases, these writers are practicing the traditional approach: think first, then write.

By contrast, this system treats writing as a developmental process by which you discover what you want to say through the act of writing itself.

The core insight of this method:

The Two-Phase Writing System

The system operates on two alternating processes:

1. Working with Words - The overall developmental process through which your ideas emerge.
2. Working with Ideas - The interaction process where emergent ideas collide, contrast, and combine, forming new insights.

Step by Step Guide

STAGE 1: Working with Words

What to do: Write continuously for 10 minutes without stopping, editing, or worrying about quality. The idea here is to 'get out of the way' and let your subconscious guide the process.

Process:

• Never stop writing, even if you can't think of anything
• Don't correct, cross out, or edit
• If stuck, write "I can't think of anything" until something comes
• Write whatever comes to mind, even if it seems unrelated

Why this works

• Gives the conscious mind a simple, manageable task: don't stop writing until the timer stops.
• Frees up space for the subconscious mind
• Bypasses the critical editor that causes paralysis
• Generates raw material
• Proves that you can write without controlling the outcome

Your analytical nature makes you want to solve the whole problem before starting. But like speaking, writing is also the process you use to solve the problem. So we need to divorce the writing process used to solve problems from the writing process used to communicate those solutions.

You don't plan out every word before talking. You just start with whatever comes to mind, and proceed with one word after the next.

STAGE 2: Working with Ideas

What to do: After freewriting, step back and look for the ideas that want to emerge.

Process:

1. Read through your freewriting
2. Identify words, phrases, or ideas that have energy or interest
3. Ask: "What is this really about?" Don't simply copy down the idea. Interrogate it, looking past the words to the core of the idea.
4. Write one sentence that captures this idea. Make it a truth claim rather than a topic or abstraction—e.g.,

Why this works:

• Gives you material to analyze (your own words)
• Refines messy material into ideas that you can work with
• Identifies early prototypes of ideas
• Utilizes your natural pattern-recognition abilities

The idea here is to separate the wheat from the chaff. Before discarding the free writing draft, you comb through it for any gems that you want to carry forth.

STAGE 3: Working through Cycles

What to do: Alternate between expanding (more writing) and focusing (stepping back to see patterns).

Process:

1. Expand: With the idea from STAGE 2 written at the top of a fresh page, write for 20-30 minutes, using that idea as your center of gravity. As with STAGE 1, write anything that comes to mind, but try to stay oriented towards the idea written at the top of the page.
2. Focus: Step back and summarize what emerged in one clear assertion
3. Expand: Write that assertion at the top of a new page. Then, start a new free writing session, staying oriented towards that idea but letting yourself wander off course as new ideas emerge.
4. Focus: Review the new material from free writing, and refine that main assertion.
5. Repeat: Continue until you have substantial material and clear direction

Why this works:

• Gives you concrete steps instead of vague "just write" advice
• Each cycle provides more material to work with
• Balances the messiness of creation with the clarity of analysis
• Prevents endless spinning by forcing forward movement

In the first free writing draft, this idea was little more than a germ. But carry it forth into a new free writing session, and now it starts to propagate. Through successive writing sessions, you'll start to feel an energy that emerges from within these ideas. Follow that energy to wherever it leads.

As always, examine the free writing session for new ideas, record them as statements, and then bring them forth into new freewriting sessions.

STAGE 4: Create Productive Friction

What to do: Deliberately seek out conflicting ideas, perspectives, or approaches within your material.

Process:

• Perspective shifts: Rewrite the same point from an opposing viewpoint
• Format changes: Turn prose into dialogue, narrative into analysis
• Audience changes: Write for a completely different reader
• Contradiction search: Find places where you disagree with yourself

Why this works for analytical minds:

• Uses your natural ability to see multiple sides of issues
• Transforms the analytical tendency to see problems into a creative tool
• Creates the intellectual tension that generates new insights
• Gives you specific techniques instead of hoping for inspiration

Whenever the free writing exercise feels stale, you can mix it up by changing your stance. Rather than simply writing whatever comes to mind, you can interrogate these ideas by taking different positions. For example, you could take one of the following stances:

• Adversarial stance, arguing against the idea that earlier you thought was true;
• Anecdotal stance, developing the idea by telling an illustrative story;
• Amplification, exaggerating the idea to the point of hyperbole, stress testing it in order to find its outer limits;
• Contrast, considering counter-examples and edge cases that contradict the idea.

The list goes on. The point is that you don't always have to free write about these ideas. Whenever you find an idea that you want to interrogate, try a free writing session in which you take a stance.

STAGE 5: Refine with Purpose

What to do: Only after you have substantial material and clear direction, begin editing.

Process:

1. Identify your real message: What is the one thing this piece is really saying?
2. Map your material: What supports this message? What doesn't?
3. Cut ruthlessly: Remove anything that doesn't serve your main point
4. Strengthen connections: Make the logic between sections crystal clear
5. Polish last: Fix sentences and word choice only after structure is solid

Why this works for analytical minds:

• Gives you clear criteria for decision-making
• Uses your ability to see logical structure
• Satisfies your need for order and precision
• Prevents premature editing that kills ideas

Once the idea is exhausted, and you feel like you have something to share, it's time to start a new draft.

And by new draft, I mean new. It's important that you start a new document for your readers; don't try to carry any of the material from your free writing sessions into this reader draft. Why? Because the writing patterns that you use to do your thinking are different than the patterns that readers expect when they're reading. In other words, writers and readers use the text differently. So it's important to develop these ideas afresh, according to the patterns in which your reader expects to find them.

Why This System Solves Analytical Paralysis

• Removes pressure: You're not trying to write the final version immediately
• Provides structure: Clear steps prevent aimless wandering
• Uses your strengths: Analytical skills become tools for development, not obstacles
• Builds confidence: Success in early stages motivates continued effort
• Creates material: You always have something to work with and improve

Quick Start Guide

For your first session:

1. Set a timer for 10 minutes
2. Write continuously about anything (even "I don't know what to write")
3. When done, circle 3 interesting phrases
4. Write one sentence: "This seems to be about..."
5. Set timer for 20 minutes and write more, starting with that sentence