Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

The speed of emotion
Sharpen the speed of the read
Tweak

As you glide your hand over your writing during the Macro step, you’re looking specifically for the emotion of your words.

How does the ride feel?

Even writing whose sole purpose is to “convey information” still makes its mark through emotion. I’ll prove it. Think of the last time you discovered something you didn’t know. How did you feel about that? There’s an “Aha!” moment. Or at least a momentary sense of satisfaction at the discovery.

If you’ve never noticed it before, pay attention to it. Think about your own ride through this book. Hopefully, you’ve had lots of moments of inspiration. Of excitement. Of anticipation.

That’s what you’re looking for in your writing, too.

Make notes. Is the emotion coming too slowly? If so, we’ll need to tighten up that part. If your reader isn’t experiencing any emotion in your work, they’ll slow down, get bored, and turn off. Sharpen the speed of the emotion (the rate of its impact), and you’ll keep your reader glued to your words.

Alternatively, is it firing along too quickly? The human mind can’t handle rapid-fire emotional input. Too much emotion, and we shut off. If you’re expecting your reader to stay excited or intrigued the whole time, they’ll resist. You’ll need to fill your writing out. Keep the ride smooth.

Now that you’ve Strengthened your writing, and everything’s got a Tweak grade, you can finally feel the ride.

When you’ve gone through and marked up the impact points, you can create a Speed Plan, just like you created the Strengthen Plan. Line by line. Exactly how to fix it.

Give yourself a roadmap for the Tweak.

And don’t jump the gun. Our whole goal is to see what we’ve got first, and fix it with a clear head.

For the first time, you can see your writing as a reader. And when you do, you can create a ride that’ll dazzle them.