Stop Brainstorming. Start Capturing.
The 300-Page Doc Behind His Best Ideas
Steven Johnson is a writer I’ve followed for years.
In 2014 he wrote about something he calls the Spark File.
It’s not complicated. It’s a single Google Doc that he’s been adding to forever. It’s 300+ pages long now.
Inside it: half-thoughts. Research scraps. Observations. A weird thing his kid said. A line from a podcast. Something he noticed on Substack last Tuesday.
No categories. No tags. No system.
Just one running document that’s been collecting sparks for over a decade.
Here’s what makes it useful:
Every few weeks, he reads through it from the top. Half of what’s in there feels old or obvious. But some entries from three years ago suddenly connect to something he saw yesterday.
That connection is the essay. The newsletter. The chapter.
Most creators don’t have a brainstorming problem. They have a capture problem. The good ideas show up. We just don’t write them down. And then six months later we wonder why we feel stuck.
Start a spark file this week.
Don’t overthink it. One running doc. Add to it without filtering. Read it once a month.
The good newsletter you’re trying to write is probably already in there.
Matt “keep the spark file” Ragland
I have a similar Ideas file. A random list I started 5 years ago. I just keep adding to and also periodically read through the entire thing.
My writing has greatly improved since I started my Spark file a few months ago. Its great to finally have a place to jot the idea and then come back and connect it later for the finished product!