Generate Discard ✧

In the age of optimization, we are obsessed with efficiency. We want the first draft to be perfect. We want the AI prompt to nail it on the first try. We want to skip the mess and land on the masterpiece.

Set a timer for 10 minutes. Write 20 headlines, 10 story premises, or 5 opening lines. Do not edit. Do not judge. When the timer ends, walk away. Come back and circle the one that has potential . Delete the rest. 2. Generative AI (Prompt Engineering) The biggest mistake new AI users make is expecting a perfect result from a single prompt. Experts know that the workflow is: Prompt -> Generate -> Review -> Discard -> Iterate. generate discard

Generate & Discard isn't about being inefficient. It is about recognizing that the fastest way to find a diamond is to look at a lot of coal—and then walk away from it. In the age of optimization, we are obsessed with efficiency

This is the philosophy of . What is Generate & Discard? Generate & Discard is a workflow methodology where the primary goal of the first phase is quantity without commitment . You generate as many ideas, lines of code, images, or paragraphs as possible. Then, without mercy, you discard the vast majority of them. We want to skip the mess and land on the masterpiece

It is the opposite of "slow and careful." It is fast, messy, and intentionally wasteful.

Instead of trying to write elegant code on the first pass, write the ugliest solution that solves the problem. Learn from it. Then hit delete and refactor. The Danger of Not Discarding Most people are good at generating. They are terrible at discarding.

We suffer from the : "But I spent two hours writing that paragraph!" or "But the AI gave me a perfectly fine image!"