Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

The first priority
Meet the FAST system
The setup

But clear to whom?

At the foundation of the Meisner Technique — the style of acting I was trained in (and subsequently taught) — was this basic idea:

“Put all your attention on the other actor.”

It’s an incredibly powerful idea. And it applies way beyond acting. Think about it.

Human nature is self-centered. That’s not a bad thing, mind you. We’re designed to be self-sufficient. To find our own food and shelter. So, naturally, we tend to look after ourselves.

But we end up only seeing ourselves. We stop noticing how other people we meet fit into the equation.

Yet, writing is communication. Transferring ideas. What you say (the words you use) is not important. What’s important is that the reader understands! The other person is the most important thing here. So let’s modify the quote to read:

“Put all your attention on the reader.”

How can you express your idea so that they see it as clearly as you do? That’s the key to writing.

Sure, different forms of writing have different objectives. When you write a letter, you want a different result than when you write a book. When you write a business report, you want a different result than when you write a screenplay.

Each type of writing will have a different purpose.

But each has a reader. And making that reader understand your idea is more important than any other thing.

In order to do this, you’ve got to know the outcome.

I used to balk at this idea. I always thought knowing the end before you started would stifle your creativity.

But as it turns out, that’s not the case at all. In fact, if you don’t know where you’re going, you might not like where you end up! And if you get lost halfway through your writing, I can 100% guarantee it’s because you didn’t know where you were going when you started.

The Focus phase is where you determine that. It’s where you’ll flesh out your idea.