Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

And so...
Amplify for maximum effect
Strengthen

The Strengthen Phase can be the most challenging phase of the entire writing process. And the reason is simple. You can’t see the forest for the trees. You’re swimming around in the detail, and you lose sight of the idea you’re trying to get across.

This section simplifies that process.

And here’s a quick recap, to make it perfectly clear.

When you’ve got pages full of your writing (a manuscript, a first-draft screenplay, a rough draft of your thesis, whatever), you’ve got something to work with.

Go through it, and create a Problem List (Chapter 10). You’re trying to see what you’ve got, and what needs to be fixed. You need to see it clearly before you can do anything with it.

Then, go through it again. This time, grade it, prioritize it and create a Strengthen Plan (Chapter 11). You’re turning the Problems into solutions, and giving yourself a roadmap.

Then, simply go through each section in order of priority, and rework, fix, and rewrite until every section has a Tweak grade (Chapter 12).

Do it FAST. Don’t dwell on it, and don’t demand perfection. We’ll tweak it later (in the next section). For now, just get your ideas across. Clearly. And with impact.

Shape the lightning bolts on the page.

Building them as you go.

It’s a systematic approach. And if you apply it, you won’t get lost! The reason writers get lost at this stage, is they aren’t holding everything up to the idea they’re trying to express.

And now that you do, you can make your work sparkle in no time at all.