Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012
Create a strengthen plan
Decide which way to go
Strengthen
Now here’s where you bring it all together. Time to prioritize. When you have your work marked up, and you’ve graded each chunk, it’s time to put it into a plan.
Just as the Focus Plan prepared you for writing, the Strengthen Plan prepares you for rewriting.
Here’s how to put it together:
On a sheet of paper, or a new file on the computer, create a line for each element of your writing — however you’ve broken it down (Acts, chapters, scenes, sections, chunks, whatever).
On each line, list the section, the grade you gave it, and the time you estimate it’ll take to finish it. For example:
“Create a Strengthen Plan” — Edit — 20 minutes.
“Decide in 5 Easy Steps” — Re-Focus — 3 hours.
“And so...” — Tweak
(If anything gets a Tweak grade, don’t give it a time. It’s ready for the next phase!)
Go through your Problem List. Create a line for every section, every sub-section, every chunk. Do it for every level.
Then, arrange each line in order of priority.
All sections with a Re-Focus grade go together. All Research sections go together. All Edit sections go together.
The only exception is that the level always gets top priority. The grade comes second.
In other words, “Chapter 11” would get priority over “5 Easy Steps” — even if it has a lower grade — because “Chapter 11” is the higher level.
For example, let’s say “Chapter 11” gets a Research grade, but “5 Easy Steps” gets a Re-Focus grade. It’s pointless fixing smaller sections first — they might get cut later!
So you’d arrange it like so:
Chapter 11 — Research — 6 hours
“5 Easy Steps” — Re-Focus — 3 hours
“Create a Strengthen Plan” — Edit — 20 minutes
“And so...” — Tweak
What you’re doing is creating an order for your rewrite. You’re giving yourself a way to simplify it. So you’ll do it!
Go through your notes, estimate times, and prioritize. If you don’t know how much time to estimate, just guess. As a guide, use the time it took you to get through the Focus and Apply phases. Estimating takes practice. You’ll get faster with experience.
And when you’ve finished turning your Problem List into a Strengthen Plan, guess what?
You’ve got a custom roadmap to fix your work. Nifty, huh?