Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

Inspect your work in 5 easy steps
Inspect what you have
Strengthen

Writers often get lost when they see a mountain of pages they’ve written. But not you. Never again. Just follow these five easy steps to see what you’ve got.

1. Put yourself in the reader’s shoes.

You think your work is terrible. Doesn’t matter. You’re not the important one here. Your reader is. Take time off if you need to, but detach from your work. When you can look at your work objectively, then:

2. Read it through completely.

No red pencil yet. If you get a great idea, jot it down (no need to lose those slippery beasts), but do not fix your work on the first read. Just get a sense of it. Feel the whole. Then:

3. Write down your thoughts.

At the end of the first read, write down your impressions. Your overall feelings. The big picture. The point is to see how far off you are from expressing your idea. Take as much time as you need, and then:

4. Re-read and make notes.

On your second read of the material, use the red pencil. Get aggressive. Note everything that isn’t working (and why it’s not working, if you can tell). No fixing yet. Just mark up your text. Be detailed. Then:

5. Create your Problem List.

Assemble all your notes into a list. Major section problems first. Then zoom in to each level, and create a list of problems for each one.

You’ll end up with a list of what’s not working. There’s no “good” or “bad” here. Look for the effectiveness of your words, instead. Make notes of everything you need to fix.

There’s no timeframe for it. It could take twenty minutes, twenty days, or twenty weeks. But don’t take too long. Inspect fast. You can always come back and do it again.