Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

Time and the temporal shift
Techniques that command attention
Tweak

One last thing I want you to watch for is time.

As a writer, you have the ability to stretch time or speed it up, depending on the effect you’re going for. And you need to do it intentionally.

Time is a concept. Not just hours, days, weeks, months, or years. Those are just ways to measure it.

Time itself runs through everything we do. And it’s there, in every word you put on that page. In fact, if you’re not aware of it, your writing’s probably too slow. It’ll be stronger if you speed it up.

For example, think back over what you’ve read from this book so far. Did any of the chapters seem “slower” than others? Anything sluggish or maybe a little tedious?

Hopefully I’ve done my job well, and you said “No.”

But hey, I’m a realist. Depending on where you’re coming from (and how well I’ve Tweaked my words), you’ll fly through some sections, and others will feel like they’re plodding along.

You can adjust that, y’know. On several levels.

You can speed up time or slow it down at will. For example, you can show Bob at his high school graduation in one sentence, and then show his retirement in the very next. You’ve just sped through fifty years! Or, you can describe each flap of a hummingbird’s wings in such detail that you almost stop time itself.

But that’s just one level. You can also jump time by interrupting a story with a flashback. Here I am today, but it reminds me of when I was twelve. And then I’m back there again. Or I can go forward into the future — where I might be in thirty years. Time is adjustable for the writer.

Are you using time to make your writing stronger?

But when I say you can adjust the speed of your writing, I’m referring to a different kind of time — your forward movement.

Are you keeping your ideas moving forward? Or are you rehashing them over and over? Forward movement is vital. For the reader, time slows down when you’re not moving anywhere. Imagine being stuck on a train or in traffic. You’ve seen this part. You’re ready to move on. It gets tiresome very quickly.

Transitions are a good way to carry you from one sentence to the next. Notice how often I start a sentence with “and” or “but.” It’s done deliberately, to keep drawing you down the page. So we don’t get stuck in time.

If it’s done effectively, it speeds the read. If it’s done poorly, it slows things down by being repetitious.

My writing style may not be appropriate for what you’re writing, so I’m not suggesting that it’s the way to go. I just want you to be aware of time in your writing.

How are you using it? How does it flow? Make sure it’s working for you instead of against you.

Tweak the words to create the effect.