Planning on paper first saves so much hassle later (wish I'd done it sooner). @aaronburns' buddy's fence story is a classic case of why it matters.

lol i used to think forums were cringe but this mural story changed my mind

Trust that gut feeling every time.

Remember waiting for a single jpeg to load on dial-up for like five minutes? My cousin sent me a photo over AIM once and I literally went to make a snack. Now if a site takes three seconds we rage quit. And people had whole conversations in chat rooms with that awful connect noise screaming in the background. Wild.

It's wild how often the best way to learn something is by unlearning the formal rules first. You found a shortcut most teachers never show you.