Starting is the hard part. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a blog post, building a website, designing a logo, or trying to tackle any project with more than a few steps. Looking at the whole thing at once is overwhelming.
But you can’t finish what you don’t start.
The First Draft Is Supposed to Be Ugly
The most important part of any project is the beginning. Putting the proverbial pen to paper. And your first draft is not supposed to be perfect.
In fact, if your first draft looks perfect, there’s a good chance you haven’t actually started yet. You’re still planning. Still hesitating. Still trying to “get it right” before you’ve made anything real.
The first draft exists for one reason: to give you something to work with.
My Default Method: Get It All Out
When I’m writing, I usually start with a stream of consciousness. I write down everything that comes to mind related to the topic. Sometimes it turns into full sentences. Sometimes it’s bullet points. Sometimes it’s just a handful of words that will only make sense later.
The format doesn’t matter. The goal is momentum.
The same thing applies to design work. Early drafts are messy by nature. With websites especially, the first version often looks like a garage sale. Content blocks are in the wrong place. Placeholder photos everywhere. Fonts not finalized. Spacing all over the map.
That’s normal.
At that stage, I just want everything on the page. Once the puzzle pieces exist, I can rearrange them.
Build First, Refine Second
After the rough version is in place, refinement becomes easier. You can start making big changes first, then work your way down to smaller tweaks as it comes together.
Sometimes the revisions happen immediately. Sometimes you need to walk away for a day or two so you can come back with fresh eyes. Either way, the process works because there’s now something real to improve.
Blank pages don’t give you that.
Don’t Leave Things Out Too Early
When building your first draft, don’t self-edit too aggressively. Get it all down. Add the sections you think you need. Include the ideas you’re unsure about. You can always refine and cut later.
It’s much easier to remove something than it is to create it from scratch under pressure.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery said, “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
That’s the goal, but you don’t get there by starting with nothing.
Start messy. Get it on the page. Then edit.
