How I’m building a sustainable creative system for writing books, blogging, and sharing ideas through ToddHDow Studios.
People often imagine writing as the moment someone sits down in front of a blank page.
The truth is, that’s only the visible part of the process.
Writing begins long before the first sentence is typed.
It begins with a conversation. A book. A question. A walk. A podcast. A news article. A half-formed idea scribbled into a notes app while standing in line for coffee.
I’ve spent a surprising amount of time over the past year thinking not just about what I want to write, but how I want to write. As ToddHDow Studios has grown, I’ve realized that building a sustainable creative life has much less to do with finding the perfect software and much more to do with building a system that keeps ideas moving.
I’m still refining that system, but I thought it might be interesting to pull back the curtain and share how it works today.
Building Worlds
ToddHDow Studios is home to everything I create.
Some of those ideas become weekly blog posts. Others are slowly evolving into books. Some may never become either, and that’s okay too. Not every idea needs to become a finished project.
The four worlds I’ve chosen to focus on – Cryptogeddon, Holy Wars, The Book of Dow, and TTRPGs – give my curiosity somewhere to live. The Writer’s Notebook is where I step back from those worlds and talk about the creative process itself.
At first glance, cybersecurity, medieval and colonial history, writing, and tabletop gaming don’t seem to have much in common.
To me, they’re connected by the same thread.
They’re all worlds built on strategy, conflict & consequence.
Some ideas are ready to share almost immediately. Others need years to mature before they’re ready to become books. The destination changes, but the creative process is surprisingly similar.
Removing the Daily Decision
One lesson I’ve learned is that creative energy is limited.
If every Saturday morning begins with the question, “What should I write today?”, I’ve already wasted energy making a decision that didn’t need to exist.
Instead, I created a simple publishing rhythm.
- Week One: The Cryptogeddon Briefing
- Week Two: Holy Wars Journal
- Week Three: Book of Dow: The Archive
- Week Four: Campaign Chronicles
- Week Five: The Writer’s Notebook
Every week, I also publish The ToddHDow Dispatch, my newsletter that ties everything together.
Over time, I’ve settled into a publishing rhythm that works well for both me and my readers. New blog posts are published on Saturdays. The following Monday, I send The ToddHDow Dispatch, introducing that week’s post, sharing what I’m reading, highlighting anything new across ToddHDow Studios, and offering a preview of what’s coming next.
But that’s not where the process ends. Throughout the week, I continue the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn, sharing quotes, images, behind-the-scenes thoughts, and stories inspired by the article. Rather than treating social media as advertising, I see it as another way to explore ideas, connect with readers, and invite people into the worlds I’m building.
Every idea follows a similar lifecycle: capture, research, write, publish, share, then move on to the next one. Having that predictable rhythm means I spend less time wondering what to do next and more time actually creating.
Like everything else in my workflow, the schedule isn’t about rigid rules. It’s about creating a sustainable rhythm that lets me keep showing up, week after week.
That schedule keeps my blog moving forward while giving my longer writing projects room to develop in the background. Blog posts may be measured in days, while books are measured in months—or more likely, years—but both benefit from showing up consistently.
Sometimes the best creative decision is removing decisions altogether.
Following an Idea
People sometimes ask how I go from an idea to something I publish.
The answer is… slowly.
Almost everything begins in Apple Notes.
Ideas arrive at strange times, and I’ve learned not to trust my memory. Whether it’s a thought for a Holy Wars article, a scene for a future novel, or a question I want to explore, it gets captured before it disappears.
From there, I research.
I read.
I ask questions.
I sketch outlines.
Sometimes I brainstorm with ChatGPT – not because I want it to write for me, but because it’s an excellent thinking partner. I’ll ask it to challenge an argument, suggest different ways to organize an article, or point out places where my reasoning isn’t as clear as I thought it was.
Eventually, the path splits.
If the idea is timely, it usually becomes a blog post. I’ll draft it, revise it, prepare images, format everything in WordPress, build the newsletter in Mailchimp, and publish it.
If the idea has deeper roots, it usually moves into Apple Pages, where it becomes part of a much longer project. Books don’t care about weekly publishing schedules. They ask for patience instead.
Different destinations.
The same creative engine.
Sharing the Conversation
Publishing a post isn’t actually the end of the process.
It’s the beginning of another one.
Every article gets its own newsletter, but it also becomes the foundation for posts and stories across Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn over the following days. Sometimes that’s a quote that stands on its own. Sometimes it’s a single image. Sometimes it’s a behind-the-scenes thought that didn’t make the final article.
I don’t think of social media as marketing.
I think of it as continuing the conversation with readers who may never visit my website otherwise.
In many ways, a finished blog post isn’t the final product.
It’s the source material for everything that follows.
Chasing the Perfect Tool
If there’s one rabbit hole I’ve fallen into more times than I’d like to admit, it’s searching for the perfect writing software.
Should I use Word?
Something else entirely?
The answer, I’ve discovered, is that none of them actually solve the problem.
Software doesn’t create discipline.
It simply supports it.
Today my workflow uses a collection of tools because each one does something well.
Apple Notes captures ideas before they’re forgotten.
Pages is where my longer writing currently lives.
Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) helps me organize and understand research.
ChatGPT helps me brainstorm, edit, and think through problems.
WordPress and Mailchimp help me share finished work with readers.
Together, these tools form a pipeline rather than a collection of disconnected apps. Ideas flow naturally from one stage of the creative process to the next.
One thing that surprised me while writing this article was realizing just how long some of these tools have been part of my life.
ToddHDow.com has been running on WordPress for more than twenty years. If you browse my archive, you’ll find posts dating all the way back to December 2005. Mailchimp has been part of my workflow for well over a decade too. My very first subscriber – appropriately enough – was me, back on October 15, 2012.
Looking back, I’m grateful that “past Todd” chose tools that proved reliable enough to grow alongside me.
Those tools may or may not change someday.
The habit of creating is the part I hope never does.
Reading Is Part of Writing
People often ask about my writing habits.
Far fewer ask about my reading habits.
The truth is they’re impossible to separate.
Every book I read becomes part of my creative toolbox.
History feeds Holy Wars.
Cybersecurity and emerging technology shape Cryptogeddon.
Stephen King constantly reminds me how powerful voice can be.
Brandon Sanderson demonstrates the importance of structure, planning, and worldbuilding.
Neal Stephenson encourages me to think bigger, research deeper, and ask more ambitious questions.
Even books that seem completely unrelated to whatever I’m working on have a way of influencing what comes next.
I’ve stopped thinking of reading as something that competes with writing.
Reading is writing preparation.
Still Learning
One thing I’ve become comfortable admitting is that I don’t have this all figured out.
My workflow changes.
My software changes.
My routines evolve.
Every project teaches me something new.
That’s part of the reason I wanted to create The Writer’s Notebook in the first place.
Not because I have all the answers.
Because I enjoy exploring the questions.
Final Thoughts
When I first imagined becoming a writer, I thought success depended on inspiration.
Today, I think it depends on something much quieter: building an environment where inspiration has somewhere to go.
For me, that environment is made up of habits as much as technology. Reading sparks new ideas. Apple Notes captures them before they’re forgotten. ChatGPT and NotebookLM help me explore and challenge them. Pages gives my books room to grow. WordPress, Mailchimp and my socials help me share finished work with readers. My publishing cadence keeps everything moving forward, one project at a time.
None of those tools writes for me.
None of them can replace curiosity, discipline, or creativity.
But together they remove friction, helping me spend less time wondering how to create and more time actually creating.
Perhaps that’s the systems engineer in me. After decades working in technology and cybersecurity, I’ve developed an instinct for choosing tools that are stable, reliable, secure, scalable, and well-supported – tools I can trust to grow with me instead of forcing me to start over every few years. The best technology quietly fades into the background, allowing the work itself to take centre stage.
Looking back, I’m grateful that “past Todd” made some good decisions. WordPress has been home to ToddHDow.com for more than twenty years. Mailchimp has been part of my workflow for well over a decade. Those choices gave me continuity, allowing me to focus on creating instead of constantly rebuilding.
That’s ultimately what this ecosystem is designed to do. Every tool, every habit, every book I read, every note I capture, every conversation I have with ChatGPT, every newsletter I send, and every social post I publish serves the same purpose: reducing friction so I can spend more time thinking, writing, and building worlds.
Because in the end, writing isn’t about finding the perfect tool.
It’s about building a life that keeps you curious enough to have something worth writing about.
When I first started blogging, I had already established my IT career. I had spent time working at AOL Canada as a web geek, I had worked in a couple of internal IT departments (at Celestica and Toronto Rehab Institute) and I had recently returned to the online space when I started working at Postmedia (then called Canwest) in early 2006. When I joined Postmedia, I was just wrapping up my undergrad degree from the University of Toronto (in Philosophy and Religious Studies) and I was beginning a masters degree (Master of Divinity) at McMaster University. I have since put my studies aside and continue to focus (and greatly enjoy!) on my IT career.
Tools? That’s it? Yes. Some are prettier than others. But at the end of the day, they are tools that we use to communicate. I’m writing this blog post on my wife’s Macbook Air. It’s my favourite writing instrument. It is lighter and faster than my aging Macbook Pro (which I fear may have finally died for good – it’s either got a failed hard drive or a failed logic board). Her Macbook Air has an SSD drive, it’s less than 3 lbs and it has 12 hours of battery life. Oooohhh… Aaaahh… Are you excited yet?
Nowadays, these things are commodity devices. Most of us just need a web browser. We keep in touch via webmail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, . All of this could be done with a Chromebook. If you need MS Office or some other productivity tools, then a full blown laptop is still needed. But Apple has almost replaced laptops with tablets with their latest iteration of the iPad Pro.
The internet is this age’s Gutenberg. Anyone with a commodity device is equipped to reach the world. There has never been such a democratization of free speech in history. And I feel fortunate to be able to participate in this free speech.
Does this make me any smarter? Nope. If anything, it makes me feel more foolish for sharing my incomplete and/or inarticulate thoughts with others. But I have made some stronger relationships from my writing. And I have learned how to more clearly state my case as well.