The Draft Manifesto

I. Perfection Is an Unachievable Myth
Every "final" version is just a draft waiting to be exposed. Your best ideas were once scribbles on a napkin. That napkin is now lost forever. That’s fine, because it wasn’t the final version anyway. If it was perfect, you’d still change it. Nothing is ever truly done. Every finished thing is just a less obvious draft.

II. The Draft Paradox
Every attempt to finalize something creates more unfinished work. For example:

1. You decide to write a book.
2. You write one sentence.
3. That sentence needs editing.
4. That edit makes you rewrite the entire paragraph.
5. That paragraph makes you question the entire chapter.
6. That chapter forces you to reconsider the whole book.
7. Congratulations, you now have zero sentences written.
8. You close your laptop and think, "I'll start tomorrow."

III. The Laws of Draft Reality
1️⃣ Anything you write will need a revision. If it doesn’t, you haven’t looked at it long enough.
2️⃣ Any decision you make will feel wrong later. Even this one.
3️⃣ Everything takes longer than expected.
The universe operates on "Draft Time." Every estimate is a lie you tell yourself. Your will take four hours and break five other things.
4️⃣ You can never remove the last typo. Fixing one typo creates two more. No matter how many times you check, you’ll find another error only AFTER publishing. Perfection is an illusion. Typos are eternal.

I. The Fear of an Empty Page
The most terrifying thing in the world is a blank page. This is why we write nonsense. A draft isn’t about being good. It’s about not being nothing. You cannot fix something that doesn’t exist. A bad first draft is still better than the perfect idea you never started.

II. The Draft is Alive
A draft is not a dead document. It is a living, evolving thing. Your first version is not the final story—it is the conversation you have with yourself. Nothing is ever truly finished. Not books. Not music. Not software. Not businesses. Not relationships. Not humans. Not even this manifesto. Everything is being worked on.

III. How to Embrace the Draft Mindset
1. Publish before you're ready. If you wait until something is perfect, you’ll never release anything. Let the world see your work-in-progress. "Beta" is a mindset.
2. Accept that revision is infinite. Every draft is the worst version of the next one. Everything can be made better or worse at any time. Usually both.
3. Coffee stains are part of the art. Messy, imperfect things are more real than flawless ones. A stain means it has been lived in. Smudges, torn pages, and stray marks are proof of life.
4. Let go of "done." Done is an illusion. "Final" is just a word for something you don’t want to change anymore. But everything changes anyway.

One day, long after you are gone, someone will discover your old notes. They will find the half-written stories, the abandoned sketches, the unfinished plans. They will smile at the chaos. They will recognize the unfinished mind behind them. They will continue your draft. Everything is unfinished. Everything is a draft. And that is perfect.

Now go. Start your draft. Keep it messy. It was never meant to be anything else.

This manifesto is 99% done. Maybe. (Check again tomorrow.)

Nothing in life is ever finished. Everything is a draft. And that’s what makes it beautiful.