Selam,

Have you ever heard the word "neophyte"?

I saw Steven Pressfield use it and since then I've been hearing it all over the place.

I like the word because it sounds word.

It's basically a fancy word for noob.

And sometimes, being a noob is exactly what you need - especially as a writer.

While reading Steven Pressfield's blog, he shared this story that hit me like a Bruce Lee kick:

"When I first went to work as a neophyte copywriter in advertising, back in the Mad Men era, the thing that surprised me most was how much time was allocated (and required) by the agency for New Business."

When he says "New Business", he's talking about pitching prospects.

Even during advertising's so-called "golden age", agencies were still heavily focused on cold outreach.

Not because they weren't good at advertising.

Not because they were desperate.

But because they understood what Pressfield calls "attrition".

Clients leave.

Projects end.

Motivation fades.

The first reaction when something goes wrong is to play defense.

It's to try and stop the bleeding as much as possible.

But in reality, the smart thing to do is to go harder.

You need to start shooting three pointers like James Harden, not park the bus like Jose Mourinho.

I've been thinking about how this applies to the writing realm.

How often do we get comfortable with one style, one platform, one topic... and then wonder why our creativity starts to fade away?

The truth is, I was feeling this a few days ago.

Where I just want to rest on my laurels and rely on what's already working.

But that's exactly when I need to allocate my 20% for "New Business."

For me, that means:

• Testing a format I've never tried
• Writing in a genre that makes me uncomfortable
• Reaching out to collaborate with someone brand new
• Starting a curiosity based project with no guarantee of success

The 20% rule isn't just about preventing failure—it's about preventing staleness.

What's your 20% looking like?

What's the writing equivalent of "New Business" for you this week?

Hope this helps,

Godfrey

PS. You can check out Medium Mastery here if you want to become a master of Medium.