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The Whole Works by Ranjani & Shankar
The Whole Works by Ranjani & Shankar

Stickie note trick

Ranjani, May 26, 2020June 7, 2025

Amateur writers begin with a ‘topic’ — I did too, for years. Something like “Women characters in Tamil cinema”. But as I kept writing, I learned that writing about a topic is the sure shot way to drown in distractions.

You could start at TP Rajalakshmi and write 5000 words all the way till Nayantara. Or you could trace villis, heroines, comediennes, supporting actresses and write a book. You could do an analysis of what’s ‘good’ and what’s ‘bad’. You could measure how much screen time women characters get. Oh, the possibilities are endless — and that’s precisely the problem.

So, these days, I start with what I call a central argument. Its set the boundary for what I’m going to discuss, and allows me to make the point in a simple and straightforward manner.

When I have an idea, here’s what I do.

  • I pick up a physical stickie note and write down my central argument. If my argument doesn’t fit in a stickie note, it’s not ready to be written, I go back and re-think.

  • Once it’s on a stickie note, I keep it in front of me while I write. I frame my entire article as the evidence/elaboration for my central argument.

  • If I get ideas that are tangentially related, but don’t really further my central argument, I write down in my idea book, but keep writing my piece.

Catch my point? 🙂

Writing

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Comments (7)

  1. Gowri says:
    June 3, 2020 at 6:58 pm

    I love this! You make an excellent point. Sharing this with a bunch of writer friends.

    Reply
    1. Ranjani says:
      June 4, 2020 at 5:16 am

      Thank you, Gow! 😀

      Reply
  2. Apoorva says:
    June 14, 2020 at 6:29 am

    I really like this idea!! Going to try ♥️ (plugging my newsletter below 🤪)

    Reply
    1. Ranjani says:
      June 14, 2020 at 3:48 pm

      Of course! You are very welcome to plug. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Ashwin Kumar Rao says:
    June 14, 2020 at 10:54 am

    Will try this out when I am required to write an article next.

    Reply
    1. Ranjani says:
      June 14, 2020 at 3:46 pm

      Let me know how it works for you!

      Reply
  4. Pratip says:
    October 14, 2020 at 8:39 am

    This is really an interesting idea and I’m sure going to start doing this. Thank you.

    Reply

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