Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

Your problem list
Inspect what you have
Strengthen

Imagine you’re taking an old car in for a check-up. What happens? The mechanic inspects it for problems.

First is the once-over. Overall, it looks okay. But then we go in for a closer look. No, the headlight’s busted. There’s rust on the back passenger door. The engine has a rattle sound.

And the mechanic scribbles every problem onto a sheet of paper. When he’s done, he’s got a list of everything that’s wrong with your car.

That’s what we’re doing with your writing.

You’ve been through the inspection, now. It’s time to draw up the report.

And before you think of skipping this step, remember. You want to write fast, right? Which would you prefer? A mechanic who works from a Problem List? Or one who just starts pulling apart your engine and fiddling as he goes?

Your Problem List is organized however you like.

It’s a list of what’s wrong. Not the words. But the overview.

The ideas, the logic, the progression, the holes, the flow, the rhythm, and whatever is missing or redundant.

Big picture stuff.

Break your writing into sections. Start with a list of project problems. Then zoom in. Create a list of major section problems (for this book, I might have a problem list for each of the six sections). Then zoom in. Create a list of chapter problems. And then segment problems. Down to the smallest thought.

You’ll love this part. It’s what you’ve been waiting for!

And it’s crucial for two reasons.

Firstly, it’s therapeutic. When you physically list everything that’s wrong with your project, you detach from it.

And secondly, you get your mind thinking in “revision mode.” It’s not about “writing” anymore. It’s about fixing.

And it’s only effective after two reads of your work. The first gives you a sense of it. The second gets specific.

Just remember. No editing, rewriting, tweaking or adjusting.

Ideas and overview only. Just make a Problem List.

And then in the next chapter, we’ll decide what to do about all those problems.