As a web developer (programming, graphic designer) I’ve always just throw together an “initial mockup” and never stopped mid-design per se. I’m glad to know somebody else believes the same concept.

But I always go back and tweak my initial mockup, I usually make more iterations and I never hit perfection before the 3rd iteration but rarely go past a 5th iteration. Of course web design is more functional based so you have to go threw this trial & error phase.

I believe this is why artists prefer oil paints, because if you don’t like something you’ve previously done, you can always paint over it, which doesn’t work in other mediums so well if at all. Almost every famous artist is well known for making changes to their oil paintings for months or more.

I do a lot of writing, and also am a visual artist/painter, and I think this advice is right on. Putting something — anything — down on a draft helps. Some media are more forgiving than others. For the less forgiving media, like watercolor, it is still important to move with boldness. Not necessarily speed, but confident and deliberate brush strokes.
And in writing, waiting for the perfect document to organize itself in your head just doesn’t work as well as creating a crappy first draft.
Thanks for the inspiration — I really needed reminding here on this Monday.

I’m curious how much dependence on drafting is related to technology. I can remember writing satisfactory sentences on the first try until I started working in a word processor. Now I can barely write a grocery list without editing.

What would happen if I did all my drafting out loud or in some other medium, and practised thinking before writing? I can see getting really stuck that way, but also I can see learning to handle it for small pieces.

Travis, the whole approach reminded me a lot of prototyping in coding, glad to see I’m not the only one :)

“Let your level show.” That is just perfect. Art has become so commodified that I think we’ve forgotten that it works best as a dialogue… Culturally, it’s like we’re not allowed to ever make a mistake.

First of all, I love your site. The book recommendation of “Getting Things Done” is changing my life utterly, at a very fundamental level. And for that, I owe you my firstborn. Come to Columbus and pick him up; he’s packed and ready.

As far as this article goes, it hits on one of the most basic, tacit tenets of writing: write first, then edit. Never the two shall meet. When put to practice, this very simple notion caused such a profound shift in my creative process, that I quadrupled my output.

Just let it flow, man, let it flow…

Notes on Making Art

“Do NOT mix generating and editing. When you’re making a piece, don’t stop and get judgmental half-way through. If it’s a piece of crap, get that piece of crap out of your system — don’t try to fix it mid-flow….