How to Prep for a Week of Writing (So You Actually Write)
Set yourself up for a week of productive work
You have your writing time blocked off. You sit down, open a blank doc… and then spend the first 20 minutes figuring out what to write.
If you’re like me, your writing hours are limited — especially if you're managing content across multiple platforms or balancing writing with client work. Losing time to planning or writer’s block during your writing sessions will make it feel like you can’t ever get anything done.
The fix? Separate the prep from the writing itself. With a short weekly writing prep routine, you’ll sit down already knowing what to work on.
Why weekly writing prep is so important
Weekly writing prep is the practice of dedicating time before your writing sessions to plan — so your actual writing time is spent writing.
It's for anyone who publishes consistently: creators, bloggers, newsletter writers, freelancers. It can also be useful for people working on a book, but that’s a bit of a different animal and might need a different approach.
The principle is simple: separate the logistical thinking — what to write, what to reference, creating a publishing calendar — from the creative work of writing.
I have a blog, newsletter, and tutorials website. I break my writing prep into two sessions: organizing and outlining/prepping. That works for me, since the writing prep sessions can be shorter. But you could also do one long prep session and get everything ready at one time.
Anna Burgess Yang
3 ways to prep for your weekly writing
Here’s the preparation you should do, and you can adapt these to your own rhythm. The steps build on each other — organizing feeds your planning, and planning feeds your outlines.
1. Organize your ideas
As writers, we often gather ideas from real life. We read things, we meet people, and we draw inspiration from what’s happening around us.
I'm one of those people who bookmarks things all over The Internet and scribbles down half-formed thoughts whenever they hit me. You've probably got ideas scattered across apps, browser tabs, and random notes to yourself.
The problem? Collecting ideas and actually using them for your writing aren't the same thing. I needed to take time to organize my sources of inspiration in a meaningful way.
I spend time each week combing through everything I've saved. I use Readwise to save articles and highlight things I find interesting. Readwise syncs anything I’ve saved to Notion, where I can search later (you could also have Readwise sync to a different app).
I use Readwise to:
- Save articles I read and highlight ideas within the article
- Save “snips” from podcast episodes in the podcast player Snipd
- Sync highlights from Kindle books I read
- Paste a YouTube link and highlight/save from the transcript
The payoff isn't always immediate. You're building a library of ideas that future outlines can draw from. Some weeks, you won't use anything you organized. Other weeks, you'll pull the perfect stat or anecdote from something you bookmarked months ago.
2. Plan your writing week in blocks
Look at your upcoming deadlines and publishing schedule. Assign specific writing tasks to specific days or time blocks — like “write the newsletter on Tuesday morning” or "draft the blog post on Wednesday afternoon."
I usually write on the same days/times every week, but I also look at my calendar and make adjustments. If I’m traveling or have a client deadline that interferes with my writing, I have to plan around that.
Be realistic about how much you can write in a sitting. A deeply researched Substack article takes more energy than a personal newsletter. If you know that your energy dips by the end of the week, put your more intensive writing at the start of the week.
Not every week goes as planned, so be gentle with yourself if you aren’t able to write during your scheduled blocks.
3. Create outlines for each writing block
For each writing block on your schedule, create a rough outline: the main ideas and any key points to hit. Include any references (for me, these are links to my saved ideas from Readwise).
The goal is that when you sit down to write, you already know the structure and just need to fill in your outline.
You might set aside writing time like "work on the next newsletter issue,” but it still benefits from a quick bullet-point outline. That way, you're not starting from a blank screen.
Your writing time is where everything comes together. The ideas you organized feed into outlines. Your plan tells you which outlines to build. And when your writing block starts, you open the doc and go.
Tips for making the most out of your writing prep
- Start with just 15-30 minutes per step. Three short sessions of organizing, planning, and outlining can make a huge difference.
- Keep your planning and writing tools separate, if you can. Planning happens in your project management tool, and writing happens in your writing app. The mental switch tells you that you're in a different mode.
- Don't edit during writing blocks. Editing is a different kind of work. If you try to do both in the same session, neither gets done well. Reserve separate time for editing, if you can, so you can look at your work with fresh eyes.
- Adapt the timing to your schedule. The steps work whether you spread them across a weekend or compress them into one long session. The key is separating prep from writing, not the specific schedule you follow.
The tools I use for writing prep:
- Ideas: Readwise
- Planning: Trello for project management (what I want to publish across different platforms)
- Outlining: Notion (with Zapier connecting Trello and Notion)
Notion is new for me. At some point, I might consolidate Trello and Notion, but for now, I like the way Trello organizes my upcoming content plan of blog posts, my newsletter, and other writing projects. Notion is for the actual outlining and drafts. Once I add a specific tag in Trello, Zapier automatically creates the page in Notion.
Your writing time should be for writing
Even if you don’t follow this exact process, doing any pre-writing prep is a huge win. When I started my weekly process, I suddenly knew exactly what I needed to work on when I sat down at a computer, and felt much better after every writing session.
Start by prepping for one writing session this week by creating a simple 5-bullet point outline the day before. See if the session feels different. Once that habit sticks, you can build out the rest of your weekly rhythm from there.
Not sure where to start with posting on social media?
These 30 prompts are designed to spark some ideas.
FAQs
How much time should I spend on weekly writing prep?
Most writers can get through some basic prep in 30-60 minutes each week. Start with 15 minutes, and adjust based on how much content you're producing. The prep should save you more time later in the week when you're ready to start writing.
How do I prep for writing if I don't know what to write about?
You need to develop a habit of capturing any writing inspiration, like articles, podcasts, or dictating ideas. Spend time each week reviewing your inspiration. You build a library of ideas you can pull from whenever you need a topic to write about.
How does weekly writing prep help with writer's block?
Writer's block often comes from not knowing where to start. When you've already organized your ideas, planned your schedule, and outlined each piece, you sit down knowing exactly what to do. It removes the "staring at a blank screen" problem that often comes up during writing sessions.
