How to get past shitty first drafts...

MOVEMENT IS MEDICINE…

You’ve heard it before—the wellness girlies love this line. 

And they’re right.

Our bodies need movement.

But it’s not just our bodies that need to move.

Our brain needs “movement”.

Our creative practice needs movement.

So what happens if you don’t have movement in your creative practice?

Well, it looks something like this…

The first draft? Trash.

But if you stop at your first draft…

If you refuse to move to the second shitty draft?

That project flatlines. RIP potential. 🪦💀

That’s why when you are painting, writing, or building a new brand you have to ITERATE.

Iteration is movement.

It’s the lifeblood of creativity.

Iteration is how you make art that doesn’t suck. 

Now, I know you know this…

But I find that all creators or artists need to be reminded of this regularly.

We need to be reminded that good ideas are a result of hundreds of tiny movements.

Take Paper Ghosts, this newsletter as an example.

When I started Paper Ghosts, it wasn’t even Paper Ghosts.

It started as the Kayti Doolittle brand. 🙈

Here’s a screenshot of the top fold of the website. (I never launched this for obvious reasons.)

Then I decided, I didn’t want to write as Kayti Doolittle.
I decided I’d write letters to my daughters. I called it Someday Letters.

I didn’t launch this either. It just felt too personal. (I did share one of the letters here if you are curious.)

I might share this one day, or I may just give it to my daughters. Not every piece of art needs to be sold or turned into a business. 

Then after a few weeks of journaling (and overthinking), I noticed a pattern:

My letters were all about living life on your terms.

That’s what creativity has always given me.

For me, art has always been a kind of religion.
Or maybe more like philosophy—Stoic vibes, but with more glitter and mess.

This realization…

This random thought after journaling and thinking for a few days…

Is how Paper Ghosts emerged. 

I decided I’d write a newsletter and focus on creativity. 

It just felt right.

It gave room for all my ideas. 

Yet there was still a focus.

A focus, so I could share it with people without confusing them.

(You know that’s the key to a niche right? You don’t need to internet bro your idea. You just need to make an idea that’s referable or shareable.) 

Plus, with this name Paper Ghosts, I could make a fun logo.

Here’s the first shitty sketch of the ghost. (Literally these are scribbles.)

This was the first ghost with animation. (Still iteration is needed.)

Then the Ghost got hotter. 🔥

(Because all ghosts should be hot.)

Call it Casper’s hotter, cooler cousin who only drinks oat milk lattes and reads poetry at midnight.

This is not the last ghost either, I’m sure of it.

The point here is there was no instant ghost.

The final draft? Doesn’t exist.

That’s a myth for people who are stuck in the thinking mode.

Active artists move.

They build. Scrap. Rebuild. 

They set fire to their own work and rise with something weirder, wilder, and way more them.

So go make your first shitty “ghost.”

Then make it hotter.

Then keep going.

You’re not looking for perfection.

You’re looking for progress.

And trust me…

That “hot ghost” of yours—the vision, the thing you know is possible—

She’s out there, waiting for you to stop overthinking and just fucking start*.

And start again. And again. And again.

❤️ XOXO,

Kayti

P.S. A big thank you to Brewing Creativity. These ladies helped me iterate on the animated ghost for Paper Ghosts.

I’ve worked with them for years, and they make every creative project a dream.