Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

Motivation and procrastination
The FAST system in the real world
The payoff

But don’t confuse distractions with procrastination. They’re not the same. You might entertain a distraction because you’re procrastinating. But they’re two different things.

Procrastination is avoiding something you need to do.

And it’s caused by one thing, and one thing only:

Fear.

On some level, you’re afraid of what you’re writing. Or you’re afraid of finishing. Or of the work involved in finishing. It’s not terror, so it doesn’t feel like fear. But it is.

You’re letting procrastination overpower motivation.

I’ll show you how it works.

I’ve written this book in first person. Like a conversation. It’s me talking directly to you.

I wrote it this way so that I could share my thoughts, my opinions, my ideas and my motivations with you. Personally.

Why? Because I need you to understand my motivations.

And it’s not to satisfy my ego, or to talk about myself.

I’m sharing them so that — hopefully — you can see how vitally important motivations are to your writing.

Look, I never thought I’d write a book. I was only going to make movies. But when the big picture formed in my head — when I saw what was possible — the vision was suddenly clear.

I wrote this book to get you to write. And to get you talking about writing. To get you to tell other people about the book, and to get them writing, too. So that, eventually, this book would find enough readers who want to try screenwriting, that we can generate a ton of great scripts to turn into movies.

Understand this:

The only reason I’ve been able to finish this book — on a topic I never imagined writing about! — is because I have such a clear vision, that it’s fueled me for two solid months.

I see this book completed. I see FASTscreenplay completed. I see the Screenplay Factory completed. And I see myself making movies with the 5% of people that apply this stuff.

And that’s my motivation. It keeps me going, even when I’ve wanted to give up.

And you need it, too, for everything you write.

Because only motivation can kill procrastination!

You’ll only complete a project when you have a clear vision of the end result. And you keep that vision in your mind.

The vision must be stronger than the fear.

And regardless of what you think of my vision — even if it’s flawed or simplistic or unrealistic (or even if it doesn’t pan out) — without it, I would never have written a word.

Understand this. Use it. Incorporate it.

It’s the only way to fly.