Gather atomic notes first, then arrange — do not start…
When attempting to structure an argument or presentation, gather existing atomic notes on the topic first, then arrange them into a sequence that produces a natural train of thought, rather than starting with an outline.
When This Fires
- Starting to write a blog post, presentation, essay, or report
- Preparing for a talk on a topic you've been collecting notes about
- Structuring an argument for a decision document or RFC
- Any writing project where you have 10+ relevant notes already in your system
Common Failure Mode
Starting with an outline and writing from scratch, ignoring existing notes. You spend 3 hours writing a post that duplicates thinking you already did in your notes — but better, because the notes were refined over weeks while the new draft is a single-session effort. The existing atomic notes are higher quality than fresh writing; use them.
The Protocol
(1) Gather: search your knowledge base for all notes relevant to the topic. Pull them into a working document or spread them on a table. (2) Arrange: read through the notes and look for a natural sequence — which idea leads to which? Try multiple orderings. (3) Identify gaps: where does the train of thought break? Those gaps are specifications for new notes you need to write. (4) Fill gaps with new atomic notes. (5) The resulting sequence is your draft — each note becomes a section or paragraph. Writing becomes connecting and smoothing, not creating from scratch.