Your Shitty First Draft

I give you permission to make something bad and incomplete and rushed...

You don't need my permission, but you haven't been giving it to yourself, so here I am.

Consider this your permission to do a terrible job. To sketch something only to be scratched. To make a prototype destined to be thrown out and replaced by something better later. 

...And then to show it to someone. 

And say something like:

• "Tell me what's wrong with this."
• "How could this be improved?"
• "What stands between this and something just a little bit better?"

And make a revision...

...if you feel like it.

P.S. I made something for you. 

It's a poster with the quote that inspired this writing. This is my second draft. Maybe I'll do a third.

All good writers write them. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts.

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and

a shitty first draft.

-Anne Lamott