Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

Practice makes perfect
How to reach lightning speed
The payoff

The subtitle of this book is “How to Write Anything with Lightning Speed.” And I’ve tried to gradually build on the lightning bolt analogy throughout this thing.

And you get it. You see it. When I refer to those bolts of lightning, you know I’m referring to your own ideas. And every time I repeat it, you know why I do. Okay. Cool.

But let’s talk about the “lightning speed” analogy.

Chances are, you originally picked up this book because you wanted to write faster. Or because, like me, you struggle with the process of writing. And it takes forever.

So before we finish, I want to look at some specific ways to get you to actually reach lightning speed. Not just maximizing the FAST System, but physically writing faster.

I’ve seen a lot of writing students over the past four years. And statistically, only 5% of them ever applied the information. With a better system — like FAST — we should get better results.

But I’m not talking 10%. Maybe if this book sold a million copies, I could live with 10%. But c’mon. When was the last time you heard of a chart-topping book on writing?!

No. 10% isn’t good enough.

I want 90% of readers to apply this stuff. And statistically, that means you.

The faster you write, the more likely you’ll actually do it. And when you taste success, you’ll be inspired to continue.

So let’s reach lightning speed. Here’s exactly how.

Practice makes perfect

Sorry. But I had to.

It’s a cliché. It’s too basic. It’s not what you wanted to hear.

Too bad. It’s a cliché because it’s true. Practice makes perfect. And the more you practice, the better you’ll get.

In fact, you can only improve with practice.

When I was a kid, I used to play the piano. By all accounts, I was extremely talented. I had a natural flair for it, and I guess it came instinctively to me.

Today, I couldn’t play the piano to save my life.

What happened?

My parents made me practice every day.

In the early years, when piano was fun, I enjoyed that daily practice. But as time went by (and my notoriously short attention span developed), I didn’t want to practice anymore. But my folks were paying for the lessons (and, let’s face it, I was good at it), so they forced me to continue.

But it turned sour. I grew to hate the piano.

It felt like punishment. So I quit after five years.

As an adult, I can understand why my parents made me do it. It’s the only way to cultivate your skills. And, in retrospect, part of me wishes they hadn’t let me stop.

Who knows how good I might’ve become?

The lesson here, is this: You’ll only improve if you practice. But you’ll only practice when you enjoy it, or when you see a reason to improve — like a goal you want to achieve.

Now that you have the FAST System — practice is easy.

Just dream up new ideas, and put them into motion.

With this approach, you write fast. You get the ideas on the page quickly, and improve them quickly, too. As you practice with the FAST System, the system itself helps you go ever faster. You improve without the struggle.

If you choose topics you enjoy, it doesn’t have to be painful!

So enjoy it. And just do it.

Commit to yourself — you won’t let this book be a waste of time. Commit to yourself — you will put your ideas into motion. You will turn them into writing.

Start small, have a blast, and practice. It’s the only way.