Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

The words on the whole
Sharpen the speed of the read
Tweak

In the Strengthen section, you graded your work by looking at each chunk. And now that each chunk is working pretty well, it’s time to go back over the whole thing. Only this time, you’re looking at how the words affect you.

How they hang onto your eyeballs, and keep you reading.

Or do they?

Think of your writing as that rollercoaster ride. Except, rather than thrills and nausea, you’re trying to give the reader your idea. And just like the rollercoaster, it’s got to be a relatively smooth ride.

If you give your reader whiplash — either by throwing the wrong images out and confusing them, or by jerking their attention in different directions without warning — they’ll complain. Or they won’t keep reading (which is probably worse).

Now, part of it is pace. But pace isn’t very specific. Pace is just the rate or speed your writing is being revealed at.

Instead, I like to think of it as the holistic effect of your words. In other words, do your words create the feel of the idea? Do they work with the whole? Or are they detached? Are you using some words and mental pictures here, and other kinds of images over there? Is it scattered?

If so, you reveal the idea at an awkward pace. It feels like something’s wrong.

The whole and the parts aren’t working together.

Read through your writing. Focus now on the overall effect of the words themselves. Not just the ideas — we’ve got them working. It’s the words we’re interested in now.

Now’s your chance to be as harsh and critical as you want to be. Now’s the chance to let the Movie Critic run riot.

As long as he keeps offering suggestions.