Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

What’s the big idea?
Meet the FAST system
The setup

Now then.

The first stage of the FAST System is the F, for Focus. In the Focus phase, you’ll turn your idea into a detailed Plan.

Inside that Idea Factory of yours, you’ve got a million thoughts floating around during every waking hour. (And every sleeping hour, too, even if you don’t remember them.)

Remember how we said in the last couple chapters that all writing is communication?

Well, the first thing to understand is that all communication is the transfer of ideas. An idea pops into your head, and you want that idea to pop into someone else’s head. That’s what communication is. It’s why we talk, shout, whisper, and write:

To share our ideas.

So the first thing we need to do before we start writing is determine the idea we’re trying to communicate.

All writing — no matter how complex — has a single solitary idea at its very core. Take something as elaborate as a novel, or even a trilogy of thousand-page novels. At their very core lies a central idea. And everything you write needs to serve that central idea.

This applies to all writing.

Novels, screenplays, books, and other long-form writing may have larger, more complex, or more elaborate ideas at their core. They may also include dozens or even hundreds of smaller ideas tucked inside. But the central idea is the foundation.

Letters, web pages, emails, advertisements, pamphlets, short stories and other short-form writing will have simpler, smaller, narrower ideas at their core. And they’ll nail the idea, as clearly and concisely as possible, and be done with it.

So it’s important to know your idea first. Because everything else will stem from that.

For example, the idea of this book is encapsulated in the title: Writing FAST: How to Write Anything with Lightning Speed. That’s the crux of the book. Its structure, its style, and its approach are all borne out of that. And everything in this book must serve that idea, and make it clear.