Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

The stages of revision
Amplify for maximum effect
Strengthen

The first secret to rewriting is this: Take it in stages. Don’t try to make it perfect from the very start. It’s too big to do all at once. By taking it in stages, you make it manageable.

Let’s look at the stages:

Re-Focus. This is your least effective writing.

In your Strengthen Plan, every section with a Re-Focus grade goes back to the start of the FAST System — back to F, for Focus. Figure out your idea, and make it tangible. Break it into chunks. And then speed write it again. Let go. See where it takes you. Do these sections first.

Research. This is writing that needs to improve.

This is where you start controlling the outcome. Everything with a Research grade needs more detail. Learn more about your topic. Fill in your missing knowledge. Use what you learn to shape your writing, strengthen your ideas, and more effectively express your idea. Research when all Re-Focusing is done.

Edit. This is writing that needs to be massaged into place.

Like a master engineer, move the pieces around to snap the puzzle together. Shift, cut, blend and rework it. This is a very deliberate stage — take charge of your writing. Control it. Steer it. Until now, your writing has taken you for the ride. Now you reclaim command. Edit when there’s nothing left to Research.

Tweak. You won’t touch this writing until the next phase.

This is where you perfect it — where you control the flow of your words to give it exactly the right effect. This comes last. Do not tweak during the rewrite! Once you’ve given everything a Tweak grade, you’re done Strengthening. Congratulations.

As you go through your Strengthen Plan, take these stages in this order. It helps keep you focused. If you improve each of the Re-Focus sections first, and bump their grades up to Research, your project is at a new level. It’s better. It’s stronger. And you’ll feel that difference. You’ll feed off it.

After you rewrite each section, grade it again. If you decide it’s still the same grade, do it again. Quickly. Keep pushing.

Only you know when the idea is right. Each time you go through each of these stages, you’ll get closer to that idea.

And figuring out what doesn’t work is just as valuable as figuring out what does.