Writing tip: The belief that the 1st draft must be good makes working on it an intimidating prospect that often leads to paralysis. So let the 1st draft be junk; it should be purely about getting from start to finish, nothing more. You really write the piece when you rewrite it.

"You won’t write well until you understand that writing is an evolving process, not a finished product. Nobody expects you to get it right the first time, or even the second time."

"In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts."