I'm sharing why the common advice to expect your writing to be "crap" is doing serious damage to new writers. I get the sentiment behind the phrase "shitty first draft" (SFD) — a term Anne Lamott coined in her book Bird by Bird. I was a fan of the SFD for years, even referring to it in my own book, Intuitive Writing. I used to think the negative label gave me permission to write without pressure.
But here's the truth: calling your work "shitty" is training you to distrust your own writing.
We need to stop normalizing language that tells writers they suck before they've even started. For me, writing is about clarity, truth, impact, and storytelling, not perfection or worrying about every tiny detail of grammar. A draft is simply an unfinished piece of writing, not a bad one — it's something that hasn't been shaped yet.
I share this advice constantly: writing and editing are two completely different things. Writing is about letting the words fall out quickly and from the heart.
A draft is simply a starting place.
Avoid using negative labels (like "crap," "terrible," or "shitty") for your writing drafts — do you want your writing to live up to those labels?
A draft, plain and simple, is an unfinished piece of writing, not "bad writing"
The only things that truly matter in a first draft: Is it true? Did it land?
Separate writing and editing: focus on quickly getting ideas from the heart out during the drafting phase, without stopping to correct as you go
"Surrendered writing" means writing without controlling, judging, or forcing; the words fall out easily because you're fully present, calm, and grounded
00:00 Stop Calling Your Writing "Crap"
01:21 Why the SFD Actually Hurts Writers
02:31 Clarity Over Perfection
04:37 Drafts Are Unfinished
06:03 Writing Versus Editing
06:59 Cheer the First Attempts
07:47 My 5-Step Blogging Workflow
08:25 Labels Shape Outcomes
08:58 Surrendered Writing
10:02 How to Work With Me
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Anne Lamott's book, Bird by Bird
My third book, Intuitive Writing
My writing community, The Intuitive Writing Studio
Ways to partner with me one-on-one on books, blogs, or online writing
