A different kind of wave - Ride your wave to the end - Apply

Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

A different kind of wave
Ride your wave to the end
Apply

Imagine in your mind the rolling sound of thunder, somewhere off in the distance.

Hear the slow, steady hum. That dark and ominous sound, lifting off the horizon. Listen carefully, as it draws closer. The sound of the wind. The rumbling. The crackling.

In the distance, faint claps of thunder. Slowly approaching. Creeping towards us. Drawing up its energy.

And you can tell. It’s getting close. Real close.

And then suddenly, unexpectedly, it strikes.

Like the fierce crack of a whip and the buzz of electricity flicking through a static coil. And bang! The bolt of lightning sends a bone-rattling crash reverberating outward in every direction, echoing across the quiet landscape.

And the landscape feels it. Absorbs it. Feeds off it.

That landscape is your Power Grid. And underneath it are your pages, strewn out end-to-end.

The bolt of lightning is your idea. Charged up. Energized. Ready to be grabbed and harnessed. Ready to electrify each page of your work.

It’s not enough to see it. You’ve gotta feel it in your bones.

The last two chapters gave you techniques to write your pages as fast as you can. In this chapter, we’re gonna grab hold of that lightning bolt, and use it to power through your work.

You’ve seen that power at your fingertips. Now it’s time to use it. To pour your energy onto the page.

A different kind of wave

You’re about to begin Applying your Focus Plan.

And that means filling pages as quickly as possible. It means turning blank pages into pages with words on them.

It doesn’t mean creating a masterpiece. It doesn’t mean creating something that will move and entertain and hold your reader’s attention.

No. That’s too much pressure. Keep it simple, instead.

All you’re doing is filling blank pages with words.

And I really want you to grasp this point. Because if you don’t, you’ll never get through it.

The Apply phase is not about writing “well.” It’s not about crafting a beautiful manuscript. It’s about one thing, and one thing only. What is it? Filling blank pages with words.

Every single word could suck. Every single one! But when you’re holding a stack of your own pages, you’ve done it right.

And the easiest way to do it, is to ride the wave.

The “riding the wave” metaphor comes from surfing. But when you think of this “riding the wave,” picture a different kind of wave, instead. Picture of a wave of energy.

Writing is communication. And you’re trying to get the idea from your head, into the reader’s head.

Instinctively, you want to control it. Steer it. Guide it.

But when you try, you get in your own way.

No. Forget that. You’ve got three things to help you let go. You’ve got your Focus Plan. You’ve got Talktation. And you’ve got the BIN. You’re ready. You’re all set up to harness the lightning bolts. Now all you have to do is let go and ride the wave.

Understand this. Let this wave of energy just pour out of you and push you across the pages.

When you do, the whole process becomes almost effortless.