Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

arrow_back_ios_new
MENTAL MODEL · M0152

Shitty First Drafts

Shitty First Drafts
CreatemediumWriting
Included
account_tree

Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

Hemingway once said, 'All first drafts are shit.' Acknowledging and allowing the first draft to be extremely bad is the only way to unleash creativity and overcome the obstacle of perfectionism.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Perfectionism crusher. When starting work, grant yourself a 'license to write crap.' First pursue 'done,' then pursue 'perfect.' Without a first draft, there is no basis for revision.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

By first allowing a rough draft and then iterating, you bypass the 'perfect opening' block, trading completeness for quality—revision is far easier than starting from a blank page.

MINIMUM ACTION

In progress 0/1

Practice this model in one real situation:

Check to track your progress (stored locally)
Learning progress0%
account_treeGenealogyexpand_more
menu_bookReferencesexpand_more

Source support: Explicit

  • link
    scribophile.comhttps://www.scribophile.com/academy/what-is-a-shitty-first-draftZH · Explicit
    verified

RELATED MODELS

Related model

Gall's Law

Gall’s law is a system-design rule of thumb: make a simple system work, then evolve its complexity.

arrow_forwardRelated model

Build-Measure-Learn

Core feedback loop proposed by Eric Ries

arrow_forwardRelated model

Pottery Class Parable

One group of students was graded on the quantity of their work (making 50 pounds of pots earned an A), while the other group was graded on quality (making only one perfect pot).

arrow_forward