Why First Drafts Should Be Ugly

July 10, 2025 · By Josh

Ugly First Drafts Are a Superpower

If you’re struggling to write, here’s the truth: your first draft should be ugly. Sloppy. Messy. Embarrassing even.

Because ugly first drafts get finished. And finished drafts get better.

Perfectionism Is the Enemy of Progress

Writers often stall not because they lack ideas—but because they try to write something good on the first try.

That’s a mistake.

Trying to make your first draft publishable is like trying to carve a statue without any stone. You need raw material before you can refine it.

Stop polishing sentences that don’t exist yet. Write badly. Boldly. Fast.

Why Ugly Drafts Work (and Win)

• They lower the barrier to starting No pressure = easier to begin. An ugly draft says: “I just have to get it down.”
• They boost creative flow When you stop judging every sentence, new ideas surface. Ugly drafts unlock voice, rhythm, and surprises.
• They focus on completion, not correction The job of the first draft is to exist. That’s it. Editing is a separate phase—and deserves its own mindset.
• They give you something to revise You can’t revise a blank page. But you can mold a messy one.
• They train you to trust your process Writing isn’t about magic. It’s about momentum. Ugly first drafts build the habit of showing up.

TypeSlate Is Built for Ugly Drafts

I designed TypeSlate to create ugly drafts :

• No spellcheck
• No formatting tools
• No copy-paste shortcuts

Just a blank screen and a writing goal you can’t escape until you hit it. The goal of the draft is to exist. It’s nothing more than a thought in your head until it’s on the page.

Hemingway Did It. You Can Too.

Even Ernest Hemingway famously said,

“The first draft of anything is shit .”

You’re in good company.

Writing is rewriting. But rewriting starts with an unfiltered, unedited first pass.

Let it be clumsy. Let it ramble. Let it repeat itself.

Just let it exist.

Start Your Ugly Draft Today

TypeSlate helps you build the habit of writing without judgment.

Your first draft doesn’t need to be perfect it needs to be.