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The Art of Writing Badly: Why Imperfect First Drafts Are Your Best Friend

Let’s get one thing straight: your first draft doesn’t have to be good. In fact, it shouldn’t be good. The pressure to write something polished and perfect right out of the gate is one of the biggest creativity killers out there. Writing badly is not just okay—it’s necessary. It’s how you get to the good stuff.

Think of your first draft as a rough sketch. When an artist sketches, they don’t start with fine details. They scribble, erase, and redraw until the basic shape emerges. Writing is no different. Your first draft is where you figure out what you’re trying to say. It’s messy, chaotic, and often cringe-worthy—and that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be.

One of the biggest mistakes writers make is conflating drafting with editing. Drafting is about exploration; editing is about refinement. If you try to do both at once, you’ll end up stuck in a loop of self-doubt and second-guessing. Give yourself permission to write badly. Let the sentences be clunky, the dialogue awkward, and the plot full of holes. You can fix it later.

Here’s the thing: imperfection is liberating. When you stop worrying about getting it right, you free yourself to take risks. You might stumble upon a brilliant idea you’d never have discovered if you were too busy trying to sound smart or poetic. Some of the best moments in writing come from unexpected detours—those “what if?” moments that arise when you’re not overthinking.

If you’re someone who struggles with perfectionism, try setting a timer for 10 or 15 minutes and write without stopping. Don’t backspace, don’t reread, and don’t judge. Just let the words flow, no matter how disjointed or nonsensical they seem. This practice, often called freewriting, can help you break through the mental blocks that come with striving for perfection.

Another way to embrace imperfection is to shift your mindset about what a first draft is for. Instead of seeing it as the foundation of your final piece, think of it as a brainstorming session. It’s a place to dump all your ideas, no matter how half-baked or contradictory. You can sift through the mess later and find the gems.

It’s also worth remembering that no one else has to see your first draft. It’s your private playground, a space where you can experiment, fail, and try again. When you take the pressure off yourself to impress an audience, you’ll find it easier to be honest and authentic in your writing. And honesty is where the magic happens.

Of course, writing badly doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care at all. It’s not an excuse to be lazy or indifferent. It’s about prioritizing progress over perfection. The goal of a first draft isn’t to create a masterpiece; it’s to create something. Once you have something to work with, you can shape it, polish it, and turn it into the story or article you envisioned.

If you’re still skeptical, consider this: every great writer has written terrible first drafts. Anne Lamott famously coined the term “shitty first drafts” in her book Bird by Bird, and she’s not alone. J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, and countless others have shared stories of their messy, imperfect beginnings. The difference between them and the rest of us isn’t that they don’t write badly—it’s that they don’t let it stop them.

So, the next time you sit down to write, give yourself permission to suck. Write the clichés, the awkward phrases, the scenes that don’t quite work. Celebrate the messiness, because it’s proof that you’re creating. And remember, the only way to write something good is to start by writing something bad.

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