Embracing The Mess
Why Creating “Garbage” is the Best Thing You Can Do for Your Writing Career
Whether you’re writing a screenplay, a novel, a short story, a stage play, a graphic novel, or even a narrative podcast — the myth of the perfect first draft is one of the most damaging lies in all of professional storytelling.
It convinces new writers that their first draft has to be brilliant before they’ve even typed a word. It paralyzes experienced writers who know better but still fall into the trap of perfectionism. It keeps countless “idea dreamers” from ever crossing the line into working writer.
The truth — across all creative writing industries — is simple: Nobody starts with brilliance. The first draft is supposed to be messy. It’s supposed to be imperfect. It’s supposed to be the raw material you will later shape into something powerful.
The Myth That’s Holding You Back
Everywhere stories are told — in Hollywood, in publishing houses, in theatre companies, in comics — there’s this unspoken belief that some people just “get it right” the first time. That belief kills more projects than rejection ever will.
As William Goldman famously said, “The easiest thing to do on earth is not write.” And if you’re chasing a perfect first draft, you’re giving yourself the perfect excuse not to write at all.
Anne Lamott said it plainly: “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” And Jodi Picoult drives it home: “You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.”
The page doesn’t need perfection. It needs you to show up.
Why “Garbage” is Good
The creative industries are littered with people who never finish anything. And most of the time, it’s because they’re trying to avoid writing something “bad.”
But here’s the reality: Garbage is necessary. It’s the compost that grows greatness. Every clunky sentence, every dead-end scene, every flat joke is a step toward the work you’ll actually be proud of.
This is how professionals work. They fail early, fail often, and fail forward. They get the bad version out so the better version can exist. In my own work with writers, the people who improve the fastest are the ones willing to put something ugly on the page and then tear it apart in revision.
The Problem With Shortcuts (Including AI)
If you think AI will solve your “mess problem” by giving you a clean, polished first pass, ask yourself this: If you — with no discipline, no developed craft, and no unique voice — can do that, what’s stopping everyone from doing it?
The truth is, nothing. And they are. Which is why we’re already drowning in hollow, homogenized, uninspired work that sounds like it came from the same template — because it did.
You don’t build a career by producing what anyone else can produce. You build it by developing a voice, a perspective, and a body of work only you could have created. AI can’t give you that. Shortcuts can’t give you that. The mess will.
How to Embrace the Mess (and Use It)
Write Daily – Writing is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. Commit to writing something every day, even if it’s terrible. Especially if it’s terrible.
Ban Perfection from Your First Draft – Your only job in draft one is to get the story out of your head and onto the page. Fix it later.
Muzzle Your Inner Critic – Silence the voice that tells you it’s not good enough. That voice has no role in the drafting phase.
Use Timed Writing Bursts – Try 25–30 minutes of non-stop writing. No edits. No backtracking. Just forward motion.
Rewrite with Purpose – Each revision should focus on one specific element — character, dialogue, pacing — so you’re building layer by layer.
Share Early, Share Often – Perfection isn’t the goal. Progress is. Get constructive feedback from people you trust.
Celebrate Small Wins – Every finished draft, every solved scene, every improved line is a victory. Stack them.
Feedback: The Essential Ingredient
You can’t grow in a vacuum. Even the best writers need outside eyes. The key is choosing feedback sources who understand your goals and respect your voice. That’s why professional writers seek out trusted peers, mentors, and coaches — not to be validated, but to be challenged in ways that make the work stronger.
Goldman was right: “Nobody knows anything.” But the right feedback can help you see your blind spots faster, and revision is where your career is built.
The Long Game
Professional storytelling is not a sprint. It’s a sustained commitment to doing the work over and over — sometimes for years before the payoff comes. The best in the business aren’t the ones who never fail; they’re the ones who fail productively.
Every masterpiece you’ve ever loved started life as a mess. Every professional you admire has drawers full of garbage drafts you’ll never see. And that’s the point. The mess is the path.
Conclusion: Stop Chasing Perfect. Start Writing.
No reader, producer, publisher, or audience will ever see your first draft — but without it, they’ll never see any draft.
If you want to build a sustainable career in any corner of the storytelling world, you have to stop waiting for the perfect sentence and start creating the imperfect work that will teach you how to get there.
Garbage isn’t failure. Garbage is progress. Garbage is raw material. Garbage is how you find your voice.
So go write something terrible today. Your masterpiece is waiting inside it.
Call to Action
If you’re tired of being stuck in perfectionism, of talking about your “great idea” instead of turning it into a finished, market-ready story, that’s exactly what I help writers do inside Writer Igniter.
This is where we break the perfection trap, embrace the mess, and build the skills that make you stand out in a noisy, post-Hollywood storytelling world.
If you’re ready to write the stories only you can write — and finally finish them — start here: reach out to me directly at jordan@writer-igniter.com for a free and friendly consult without any selling or obligations of any kind.
The blank page isn’t the enemy. Waiting for perfection is.
