I recently saw the following quote attributed to John Dufresne: “The purpose of the first draft is not to get it right, but to get it written.” The more I think about that quote, the more I love it. It’s easy for me to get overwhelmed and have trouble writing something if I think about too much at once. Remembering that quote helps me slow down, relax, and find some place to begin, knowing that I can always rearrange things later on.
This made me start thinking about the process of building a house from the ground up. Early on, the focus isn’t on choosing the paint color or picking out the furniture. Before any cosmetic issues are considered, a whole lot of important things have to be in place, including the foundation, plumbing, electrical wiring, insulation, walls, and roof. Once all the crucial stuff is squared away, then the focus can shift to tweaking and customizing the appearance.
The same applies to writing: write it first and make it look nice later. If there are spelling errors, poorly worded sentences, problems with the structure, or other issues in the first draft, that’s perfectly fine. The point of the first draft is to get your ideas down while they’re still fresh. Once you do that, then you’ll be in a much better position to organize things however you like. I often find it easy to structure everything once I can see all the words on the screen in front of me; it can be difficult when I’m just working with nebulous ideas bouncing around in my head, so I always try to get things written out before I start focusing on the technical aspects. I hope you find this helpful for overcoming writer’s block or otherwise moving forward with whatever creative projects you undertake.