Step 1: Pick the Topic (5 minutes)
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Step 1: Pick the Topic (5 minutes)
Open the topic backlog in Obsidian. It’s a single markdown file with a running list of ideas organised by rough priority — things I’ve been thinking about, news hooks with a short window, evergreen topics that will still be relevant in three months.
Pick one. Confirm it hasn’t been covered recently. If the pipeline check surfaces a related issue from three months ago, decide whether the new angle is different enough to warrant another issue or whether I should reference the old one and go deeper.
This step doesn’t automate well because the judgement involved is genuinely mine. What does the audience need this week? What am I most curious about right now? What topic connects to something in the news that will increase relevance? These are editorial decisions, and the topic selection is the most consequential one in the whole process.