Idea Generation On Autopilot: The Cure To Writer's Block

2 simple frameworks to generate infinite ideas... and how to train ChatGPT to do it for you.

Hey there, Digital Writers!

One of the hardest parts of becoming a prolific writer is constantly coming up with new ideas.

And 99% of writers fall victim to the same 3 problems:

• “I’m not sure what to write about.”

• “I feel like I’ve already written about this before.”

• “I know what I want to write about but I’m not sure how.”

Sourcing new writing ideas every single day is no walk in the park.

But, what the most prolific creators have figured out is once you create a system to help you overcome these obstacles—writing and publishing becomes effortless. In fact, most people don’t realize that every “prolific writer” they see publishing isn’t waking up every morning asking themselves to be brilliant. Instead, these “prolific writers'' have simply built the skill of idea generation—and created systems for themselves to make sure they never run out of things to write about.

Now, imagine transforming your mind into an unstoppable content idea machine.

And then pouring gasoline on it by leveraging ChatGPT!

Which is exactly what we’re going to show you how to do today.

Let’s dive in!

Step 1: FOR WHO/SO THAT

This is one our foundational idea generation frameworks that we teach in our flagship cohort-based course, Ship 30 for 30.

Every time you sit down to write, the very first thing you should ask yourself is:

• WHO am I writing for?

• SO THAT they can do… what?

One of the biggest mistakes writers make when it comes to idea generation is they try to generate ideas using big, broad topics. They say, “I want to write about productivity” or “I want to write about meditation.” The problem with this approach, however, is that these are giant categories. Saying you want to write about “productivity” is like saying you want to write about “life.” There are a million things you could write about!

So, how do you narrow in your thinking?

You need to get more specific.

And the easiest way to do that is by starting with FOR WHO/SO THAT.

So…

Pick a topic you want to write about, and then ask yourself WHO, specifically, you want to write for—SO THAT they can do… what? What outcome do they want or care about?

Here are a few examples:

• Topic = Copywriting

• FOR WHO = Recent college graduates who studied English

• SO THAT = They can land a job in advertising

Or…

• Topic = Therapy

• FOR WHO = Stressed-out dads who work corporate careers

• SO THAT = They stop taking their stress out on their kids & achieve inner peace

See how this works?

Step 2: The 4A Framework

The next step, once you have your Topic/FOR WHO/SO THAT, is figuring out HOW you want to write about this idea.

In Ship 30 for 30, we call this the 4A Framework.

And the 4As are:

• Actionable: Here’s How

• Analytical: Here’s The Breakdown

• Aspirational: I Did, You Can Too

• Anthropological: Here’s The Psychology Behind Why

The reason is because it’s actually not just the “topic” the reader is interested in.

What the reader really wants to know is HOW you’re going to approach the topic—and whether that HOW aligns with their wants, needs, and desires as a reader. For example, imagine your car broke down and you needed to figure out how to fix the engine. If you Google “how to fix my car engine,” what you want as a reader is something Actionable: Here’s How To Fix Your Car Engine. What you don’t want is something Analytical (”Here’s why 65% of cars need to change their fuel after 3 cars”), or something Aspirational (”I finally quit my job and bought my dream car—and you can too!”), or something Anthropological (”Here’s why car companies sexualize cars in their commercials”).

So, which of the 4As do you want to write about?

For example (see how this can work for any topic?!):

• Topic = Stretching

• FOR WHO = For first-time moms right after giving birth

• SO THAT = To regain flexibility, pelvic strength, and increase circulation

• 4A: Actionable = Here’s 5 simple stretches you can do from home in 15 minutes or less

• 4A: Analytical = Here’s why these 5 stretches will increase your flexibility 50%

• 4A: Aspirational = My flexibility after my first kid was terrible. After my 2nd kid? I’m pain-free! (And you can be too!)

• 4A: Anthropological = Here’s why so few women are told to stretch after giving birth, and why it’s a giant mistake in our healthcare system

Step 3: ChatGPT EIG Prompt

Now let’s combine Steps 1 & 2, and train ChatGPT on how to become your own personal Endless Idea Generation Machine!

• Topic

• FOR WHO

• SO THAT

• To generate ideas in each of the 4A buckets

Here’s the prompt:

I am going to train you to become an Endless Idea Generation Machine.

Here's how it works: there are 4 types of ideas we can generate.

The 4 primary types of ideas are:

- Actionable
- Analytical
- Aspirational
- Anthropological

Then there are sub-topics within each of these buckets:

Actionable (here's how)

- Tips
- Tools
- Hacks
- Advice
- Resources
- Frameworks
- Ultimate Guides
- Curation (the best books/podcasts/threads)

Analytical (here's a breakdown)

- Trends
- Numbers
- Reasons
- Examples
- Teardowns
- Swipe files

Aspirational (yes, you can)

- Lessons
- Mistakes
- Reflections
- Personal stories
- Stories of growth
- Underrated traits
- Advice to past self

Anthropological (here’s why)

- Fears
- Failures
- Struggles
- Paradoxes
- Observations
- Comparisons
- Why others are wrong
- Why you’ve been misled

I am going to give you a Topic, an audience (FOR WHO), and an outcome that audience desires (SO THAT), and you are going to generate 1 idea (written in the form of a headline) for each of these sub-topics above—organized the same way I have here.

Do you understand?

ChatGPT (like a good Digital Intern) will say, “Yes! I understand.”

Which means all you have to do is give ChatGPT the Topic, the Audience (FOR WHO), and the Outcome (SO THAT), and it will generate dozens of ideas inside each of these 4A content buckets:

Pretty cool, right?

You now have your own personal Endless Idea Generation Machine!

Chat soon,

Nicolas Cole

Dickie Bush

Co-Creators of Ship 30 for 30.