My strategy is somewhat different than those proposed here so I thought I would throw in.

1. Try to write whatever it is you're trying to write. (Blog post, email, hubski post, article, whatever.)

2. Take that piece of paper, look at it for a moment.

3. Now crumple it up and throw it out.

4. It's okay. You can reread it if you want. You can even keep it and reference back to it if you're really attached. But then...

5. New page. New document. Or at least, hit enter a ton of times before your first draft. Get it out of your sight.

6. Now, write it again.

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I almost always do this instead of taking my first draft and trying to edit it into something cohesive. I find I, like many writers, have trouble getting started. I know maybe what the meat of what I'm trying to say is, or maybe where I want to start, but not really. So often half or more of my first draft is me shitting on the page trying to wander into the beginning of my piece. I say, let that happen. I even think it's kind of necessary. Then, once you have all the shit out of your system, and your mind is warmed up and used to the idea that "Now, We're Writing," that's when you can actually get a decent start.

I also think that when I work in this manner I often get many of my initial or important points down but they are rarely clear, rarely as powerful as they could be, or as well spaced out or detailed, as they need to be in the final form. However the spitballs of the first draft allow me to flesh them out more fully than I had in my head. Although I do believe that you don't need to reference an original draft to successfully write a second one (everything you wrote is in your head; you should know it), referencing the points you make in the first, seeing where your verbiage worked and didn't, can allow you to incorporate the strong points of the first draft in with your more moderated and thought-out second draft.

So basically, start by shitting or vomiting all over the page. Don't worry about it; know that you're shitting or vomiting but that it's important just to get the damn words down. I find it really, really helpful.

Then do it again.

After that I start doing read-throughs and line-edits. Sometimes if a piece is giving me a lot of trouble I repeat the first part a few times. It helps, I think.

Write lots. Only keep what works.