Over the last few months I’ve noticed that I’ll write a rough draft as the first step of an article. This implies I know what I’m writing about. It also implies that I have a plan to publish something. Both of those things are usually untrue. Which stresses me out.
My new theory: this stress is what gets in the way of my writing. What kills my motivation. What prevents me from learning.
Instead, I’m going to start thinking of my first draft as an idea prototype.
The purpose of a prototype
A prototype is the cheapest way to get an idea from your imagination into a form that another person can see and feel and use. It’s not the the real thing, it’s a fake thing or a partial thing or a smaller thing.
It’s transferrable knowledge. Someone else can understand the thing without having your brain. They can point at the places that don’t make sense. They can point at the places where something is missing. They can point at the places they get excited about.
Then, with that new knowledge, you can go build the real thing with a little more objectivity. Or not. It’s okay to see the feedback from your prototype and decide that it’s not a good use of your time to continue.
That’s why it’s a prototype and not the first step of the actual thing.
Writing idea prototypes
From now on, I’m not writing rough drafts anymore. I’m writing idea prototypes. I’m not writing to start an article, but to get an idea to a place that I can see it outside of my own brain. Where I can show it to someone else and see what happens. Then decide if I want to write the article.
I’ve heard advice about throwing away your first draft. Which seems to be addressing the same friction to writing. But for some reason, thinking about it as a prototype feels better. It also makes the goal more achievable. Just make the prototype—no need to plan any further.
Now I can write without needing to fully understand the topic. Now I can write without expecting to publish anything. Now I can feel comfortable about writing to learn, instead of writing to publish.
Which might help me publish more stuff. I’ll let you know how it goes.☺