Jodi Picoult said, "You can't edit a blank page."

Yet that's where you start every day, right? Staring down that blinking cursor, wondering what you'll write about.

My desire to never look at a blank page again was part of the impetus for writing a weekly blog post for Wolf Pack Mentors.

I say "part of" because the other part was testing an AI-powered content system for developing a year's worth of qualified content possibilities. That system would also assist me in writing the first draft of an article worth publishing.

My desire: I wanted the Wolf Pack Mentors blog to help you solve one practical business problem every week.

But my commitment to publish a weekly blog post still left me with two big decisions: how do I find out what problems you face, and which one should I write about first?

I'm sure you know the feeling.

You finally set aside a little time to write, then spend most of it deciding what to write about. By then, half the writing time is gone and you have no words to show for it.

I've long believed that a clear outline makes writing easy because it answers the two biggest questions I face every time I sit down to write:

"What should I write about?" "What should I write next?"

I wanted a plan that gave every article a useful job before I ever started writing it.

So before I could ask AI to help me with that process, I needed to decide what belonged in this blog series.

That brought me to three questions.

1. Which business problem should my next article tackle?

2. Why that one?

3. What should you, the reader, be equipped to do after reading it?

Those decisions mattered far more than any list of potential article titles.

And I wanted those decisions made before my next writing session so every single article had a reason to exist before any writing began.

If you run your business alone, you know how easily a writing session can disappear before you even choose the topic. Even when you already know what to write about, you lack the time to write it, or question every sentence you put on the page.

A topic plan can help with the first problem. It can't solve the other two.

I Needed A Reason To Choose One Subject Over Another

For the weekly blog, I chose a simple promise:

One business problem. One practical solution. Every week.

That became the tagline for the series One Less Thing You Must Carry. It also became my challenge.

Can I explore one subject every week deeply enough that it could help you make one useful correction in your business?

For an article about unreliable follow-up, for example, I needed to show you how to record each prospective client's name, what you promised to do or send next, and when you promised to do it. With those details recorded, you then check that list for overdue calls, emails, or other commitments.

I didn't start writing a weekly blog series just for fun, although I love writing. Its purpose was to support our business goal of attracting two new Wolf Pack Mentors clients every month from all sources, including the blog.

The AI-generated content plan mistakenly took my intention to mean the blog alone was responsible for bringing in two new clients every month.

I corrected the plan so the blog was just one way to help reach that goal.

A client who came through a referral, for example, would count toward our monthly business target. But I couldn’t claim that client was a result of the blog without knowing if my articles played any part in their decision.

I used AnswerThePublic to gather search questions and phrases, and Ubersuggest to examine keyword estimates. That information helped us select possible subjects to write about.

It still left me with the decision of which problem to address and what I could usefully teach about it. I'll explain that research in the next article, "Build a List of Problems Worth Posting About."

Maverick, my Codex AI assistant, challenged my 65-week publishing timeline ("one year" turned into 15 months for reasons I won't get into here) and strongly encouraged me to consider a shorter commitment.

I begrudgingly agreed to a 13-week pilot program. We created the problem-solution arc we would cover in those first 13 weeks, and tentatively planned out the entire 65-week proposed subject list.

We now had lots of numbers and prospective ideas, but not one finished article.

More drafts left the same questions unanswered

When I later decided to document the build in this nine-part series, an Alignable discussion helped focus it on that repeated choice of what to post.

I asked Maverick for an outline. He delivered drafts of all eight articles.

"I wanted a detailed outline for the series, not first drafts I didn't approve."

Now I had eight drafts I didn't ask for, but no outline.

I still needed to decide what problem each post should address, why it belonged in the series, and what it should help you do after reading it.

More copy just left me with the same unfinished decisions.

I ignored those drafts completely. Never even bothered to look at them. No point. They couldn't possibly deliver what I wanted because I had no input on their content.

Maverick sheepishly delivered a draft outline for the series. We worked on that until I was satisfied with each article's outline. During those revisions, we decided to split one planned article into two because it covered too much. That brought the series from eight posts to nine.

Maverick wrote an article brief for each one based on those outlines. I reviewed all nine briefs before I asked for the first draft of this article.

I needed to see the entire subject and story arc for the series before I started to write the first article.

How I'd Decide Whether This Subject Belongs

Let's use this article's subject as an illustration.

I’d start by writing down what I wanted this article to help you do:

Help a founder who runs a business alone choose a useful subject before the next writing session.

Then I'd work through these four questions.

Who should this help? You run a working business alone and repeatedly return to the decision about what to post. I need to offer something you can do yourself.

What specific problem will it address? I want to help you choose a subject before you sit down to write. I'd keep this article focused on that decision instead of trying to solve every reason you might postpone posting.

What supports the idea? People described this frustration in their own words in the Alignable comments thread. That gives me a reason to investigate deeper, but it doesn't tell me how common the problem is or prove that this exercise solves it.

What should you do afterward? Write a purpose statement, compare a few genuine ideas, and choose one with a reason you can explain and stand behind.

I'd keep working on this subject because I can connect a stated frustration to a practical action.

I still need to check whether the teaching helps someone make that choice. Social media comments alone can't answer that for me.

Now suppose the alternative was a hypothetical post called "Why Every Business Should Follow the Latest Social Media Trend."

I'd drop that proposal like a hot potato.

It's pablum.

Its promise reaches every business. It doesn't name a specific problem for you. All it's got for support is popularity. Its proposed action is to follow a trend.

Pablum. Word vomit. Hard pass.

I Still Have To Do The Writing

Our Wolf Pack Voice, Tone, and Style rules took a week of development and months of iteration. They help shape the starting point.

AI delivers FIRST DRAFT ONLY. You must personally rewrite it in your own voice before posting.

That's my inviolable rule of writing with the assistance of AI.

I need to check the claims, rewrite the words, and decide what ideas I will stand behind.

When a draft misses the mark, I need to explain what went wrong and check the correction.

My own rewrites show us what to refine in Wolf Pack's Voice, Tone, and Style rules. That's the iteration work that continues every day.

Every day I compare what AI wrote to what I wrote, and with Maverick's assistance we develop cleaner rules for the next first draft.

Your Assignment, Should You Choose to Accept It

Before you finish planning your content, choose one subject for your next post.

Answer the four questions about that subject.

Who should this help? What specific problem will it address? What supports the idea? What should your reader do afterward?

Keep those answers in front of you while you create the outline and write the article.

If several ideas meet those requirements, pick the one that resonates with you most and save the others for later.

If an unrelated idea also seems to fit, describe the reader’s problem more precisely. You need a clear reason to include a seemingly unrelated subject.

List any facts you still need to confirm, and check them again before using them in the article.

The next time you sit down to write, open the note with those answers. Check if anything you learned since you picked the subject changes what you can usefully teach about it.

Update the answers, if necessary, then write from the subject and purpose you chose.