Good starts bad — Kelford Labs Daily

It’s early in the morning, and I can see my breath in the air in this chilly cabin on the water.

I’m away from my office, away from my usual working space, and I’m struggling to think of what I want to write about. What I think you might want to read about.

There’s something so deliciously writerly about it. Sitting here, watching the sun rise over the water, staring off into the distance and pondering my most ponderous thoughts.

And what occurs in this moment is that there’s something that separates “writers” from those who feel like writing is a wrestle wrought with agony.

It’s not confidence in their quality. It’s confidence in their ability to produce total garbage on command.

It’s true! “Writers” are the keepers of hidden knowledge: The first draft will always be bad.

But that’s the point.

Usually, when a client tells me they’re struggling to write content for LinkedIn, or maybe a newsletter or blog, I know that it’s not because they’re bad writers. It’s because they’re trying too hard to be good.

They’re trying to nail it on the first go. And that blocks them from getting better because they never have anything to improve.

If you try to go straight from zero to polished, you’ll end up stuck along the way. You’ll realize that what’s appearing on the screen or on the paper isn’t actually very good, and you’ll hate it and give up.

Instead we need to see those fragments for what they are: Terrible little building blocks we can rearrange, reassess, and rewrite into something better.

How can we improve what doesn’t exist?

The stakes of the first draft are low, so lower those expectations, too. The purpose is only to make something that can be made better later.

Why not take another run at the LinkedIn post you’re fighting with? Why not give yourself a few minutes to re-attempt that blog?

Just do it with this idea in mind: Absolute trash is the bar, because it’s better than nothing.

And once you have something more than nothing to work with, you can fit and form it into something approaching good.

But good starts bad.

Reply to this email to tell me what you think, or ask any questions!

Kelford Inc. shows experts the way to always knowing what to say.