But the process of writing — especially writing a first draft — should resemble quickly sketching what’s inside your mind, not squeezing words out of yourself.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I would be very interested to check out memoirs beginning with "The hardest thing is to start. Really, where did it all begin... Maybe from the day we met? Or much earlier?" There's something captivating about the unpolished honesty of these words — the exact opposite of those overconfident journalistic hooks that... See more

But the process of writing — especially writing a first draft — should resemble quickly sketching what’s inside your mind, not squeezing words out of yourself.