The bad is not the enemy — it’s the beginning

What really happens when we encounter a shitty first draft? Most people would rather look away. Ingeborg Stana, professor at OsloMet, does the opposite: she takes the bad seriously, studies it, and uses it as a learning tool.

In an extended conversation with Bjørn Arild Ersland in the book Write Boldly and Creatively! (Gyldendal, 2024), she talks about what art and writing have in common — and why “the shitty first draft” is a concept we should bring into Norwegian language education.

The magic of art is that the process is meant to turn rough stone into gold. It is the continued writing that refines your text.

— INGEBORG STANA

Stana describes a teaching practice in which students interpret each other’s sketches — not to judge them as good or bad, but to uncover the intention behind them. The question is always the same: What are you trying to achieve with your expression?

It is an approach that requires courage — and gives something in return. For those who can tolerate uncertainty, a space opens up where experimentation, mistakes, and learning are valued just as highly as the finished result.

The fear of failure makes you work less intuitively and associatively. We don’t use words like “failing” — we talk about learning from the process.

— INGEBORG STANA

Read the full interview with Stana in the chapter “The Art of the Bad” — at Gyldendal.