Not gonna lie, I struggle with creating content sometimes.
When my creativity hits a dry spell and my creative cup feels bone dry, that’s usually when the spiralling begins.
I don’t want to write and send a sloppy newsletter just for the sake of consistency. I know this sounds a bit cheesy, but I genuinely value YOU (and your inbox). If something goes out, it needs to meet a certain standard and actually bring value before I even consider hitting send.
Welcome to the inside of my head:
Am I being a perfectionist who never hits send… or am I maintaining a healthy quality bar for my audience?
(The jury’s still out.)
So instead of abandoning the whole project and dramatically setting my laptop on fire, this is the process I fall back on when my creative juices have completely run out.
The 5C Creative Flywheel
When your creativity feels empty and hitting send feels impossible, don’t force output. Run the flywheel instead.
1️⃣ Consume
I truly believe you can’t be a great writer if you don’t read. Creativity doesn’t thrive in a vacuum. Reading, observing, and absorbing creativity around you is literal oxygen for your own ideas.
Read newsletters. Scroll intentionally. Observe how others structure ideas, headlines, arguments, and stories. Creativity needs input before it can produce output.
Think of this as refilling your creative tank.
2️⃣ Curate
This is a goldmine. Low lift, high impact.
You don’t need to constantly come up with wildly original ideas. Trust me, there are so many juicy insights, concepts, frameworks, and memes already out there waiting to be shared.
⚠️ Just one rule: always credit the original creator (and link to the source).
Curation is not plagiarism. Don’t be that person. Not cool.
3️⃣ Converse
You’ve got to interact with people. Engage with their content. Join the conversation.
This is where sparks fly - debates in comment sections, thoughtful replies, unexpected collaborations, and even friendships.
Honestly, some of my best ideas didn’t come from my notes app… they came from scrolling and thinking, “Wait, what if we took this a step further?”
4️⃣ Create
This is where everything comes together.
You take what you’ve consumed, curated, and discussed, and turn it into a cohesive, thoughtful, well-cited piece of content. Sometimes it’s an original idea. Sometimes it’s building on someone else’s work - both are valid.
5️⃣ Community
This is the ultimate goal.
Finding (or building) communities. Creating feedback loops. Having people reply, engage, challenge, and build on your ideas.
It’s also the hardest part and full transparency?
I haven’t fully figured this one out yet. 🚧 Work in progress!
Why this model works
Most people try to Create first.
This model assumes Create comes last.
It removes pressure, reduces creative burnout, and replaces “I have nothing to say” with a system you can return to even on low-energy days.