Two different worlds - Why you hate writing - The setup

Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

Two different worlds
Why you hate writing
The setup

It’s just the difference between “Potential” and “Reality.”

In your mind (when you think up this great idea), it’s potentially brilliant. But look. All ideas are potentially brilliant. (In fact, when people come up to me and say they’ve got a great idea for a movie, I reply, “Excellent! How good is the screenplay?”)

If you want the reality to be brilliant, you need to express your idea in the most effective way possible. And that’s a judgment call. It’s up to you to find the best words.

When you start typing, you’re converting that potential into reality. And reality is never as glamorous as potential. Never.

You read your words back, and they bore you to tears.

Or they’re confusing.

Or they’re lame. Ineffective. Decidedly not compelling.

And you think you’ll never get your idea out right. You get frustrated and angry and upset.

And you hate writing. And you vow never to do it again.

Understand this. You can — absolutely and positively — turn your idea into a reality as rich and accurate as what you had in your mind. Yes, you can. Yes. You can. Stop shaking your head.

You need to understand that this is a process. Yes, there are talented geniuses that fly through it without batting an eye. But for the rest of us, there’s the process.

And that’s what FAST is all about.

Taking your idea from potential to reality.