Just Publish
Publish your half-baked thoughts. Publish when it is enough. Done is better than perfect.
Publishing feels vulnerable. It always does. So I keep writing low effort, write when the inspiration is there, and treat every post as something I can fix later.
How I do it
- Write when inspired. Write now when I feel like it, edit now when I feel like it, and block out time later to schedule-send. Then forget about it.
- Set a timer. My rule for one essay: start, and publish within 30 minutes. I wrote another in 20 minutes as a demo of low-effort Substacking.
- No schedule. I don’t commit to a publishing schedule. I just publish.
- Living documents. Edit later. Each post carries a message in a bottle, with no timestamp needed.
- Leave a change log. I end some posts with one: where I wrote it, and what’s changed since the first draft. One reads: “Written in a single fit of inspiration on Apple Notes on my phone after a cold shower. Published on the spot.” Changes since: none.
Who I’m writing for
- Myself, 2–5 years ago. Or a few months ago. Or right now.
- Myself, full stop. I write to bottle good vibes for myself. That was my original motivation behind my podcast, too.
- Have a problem? Write the solution. Like the Stack Exchange writers who ask a question and then answer it with what they found, or founders who build what would have wowed their past self. Start with the question, live it, then share the story. It’s not the objective answers that ring through our hearts, but the personal stories.
Three fears, and my mom’s answers
I hadn’t published in weeks (two), so I told my mom. She said, in Chinese, “That’s easy! I’ll demolish your fears in two minutes!”
Afraid of being judged? → Who’s judging?
- Mom: there’s tons of content out there. People won’t come judge yours; you’re not popular enough to be held to a judge-worthy standard.
- Me: mostly I’m afraid of being judged by myself. It’s a good time to be a nobody. Permit yourself to write and publish trash, and get through a hundred meh pieces before you hit the good ones.
Afraid of bothering readers? → Reading is opt-in.
- Mom: if someone is voluntarily reading your writing, they must be getting value.
- Me: I write for myself, to raise insights, and those turn out to apply broadly. Anxiety, fear of rejection, fear of failure: writing about vulnerability and imperfection makes connection.
Afraid of lowering your average quality? → Doesn’t matter.
- Mom: the work with more engagement is the higher-value work.
- Me: so quick posts next to polished ones is a moot worry. Value roughly tracks engagement, and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
My takeaway: just publish. Positive value is positive value.
The two extremes
My writing tends to swing between two:
- Write, then publish. Minimal edits, out of the way. It feels true to me and liberating to publish at the draft stage. Unedited, it gives readers less.
- Write, then edit forever. Perfectionism. If one person takes the time to edit my work, I feel I owe them extra time to make it perfect, and it gets so effortful I don’t want to publish again. Unpublished, it gives readers nothing.
Publishing beats not publishing.
When it’s fear
Truth is, I’m scared to communicate. I might run a Slack message past ChatGPT several times, and I edit or unsend messages more than anyone I know. If I block out time to write, I meet the resistance and anxiety head on: fears of judgment, rejection, failure. Imaginary fears, projections, because I don’t fully trust myself.
- Dance with the fear. Shake it out.
- Harness inspiration: write in the moments of joy and growth, and let the schedule-send do the scary part later.
- For the pull between wanting to hit publish and not wanting to, I use the emotional resistance steps.
I did this. I made this. I built this. And it feels so great.
Sources
- Overcome the fear of publishing, according to Mom (Dec 2023)
- Have a Problem? Write a Solution! (Dec 2023)
- Vibe Wishlist (Jul 2025, the 20-minute post)
- Just Publish (Jul 2025)
- Initial Notes on Seattle Shambhala (Jul 2025, the 30-minute rule)
- Done Is Better Than Perfect, by Valerie, written in all caps to prove the point.