Knowing your Job, Doing it Well
I’ve skirted around this point several times, but it is too important not to run into the ground: at all times, be aware of what your job and intention is. Only with this thorough knowledge can you be sure you’re doing that job well.
Right now, I’m in the stage where I’m doing a “straight up” or “super-rough” draft: my primary intention is to get from A to Z, filling in every letter in between. It doesn’t matter how incomplete, rough, sloppy, or unrefined this draft is. This cannot be emphasized enough. It would be far better for me to race through it, even if very sloppy, than get lagged or slowed because of some nagging urge to be “more complete” or “more refined.”
Once I’m through it, then, I can begin the next task: cleaning it up, even if bit by bit. No step delivers you at the end in absolute terms… it is all about stages leading you to the next stage, which leads you onward further (and so forth). Don’t feel pressured to “be perfect” at the end of your current stage. Rather, go through your current stage properly, and that in itself will be as close to “perfection” as you should be concerned with.
