Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

Introduction

The setup

Why write FAST?

What’s in store for you in this book

What’s in store when you’re done

What do you want to write?

Writing FAST versus writing slow

Couldn’t possibly be me

The battle for time

Your chance to change the world

It’s all communication

Simplifying the complex

And so...

Why you hate writing

It’s okay, you can admit it

Excuses, excuses

Meet your brain

Everybody’s a critic

Your head is faster than your hands

The idea factory

Two different worlds

Judge, jury and executioner

I’ll get to it later

And so...

Meet the FAST system

The FAST system overview

Why you need a system

Break it down into chunks

Master Talktation

Twist it all into shape

Sharpen it into a fast read

And so...

Focus

Capture your idea

The objective of this phase

The elusive idea

One single sentence

Get excited about it

Use your fear to find it

Nail the real idea

Let ideas spark ideas

The great storm

Capture your idea in 5 easy steps

And so...

Make your idea specific

How to make an idea specific

The best demonstration

Make your idea specific in 5 easy steps

And so...

Attach your lightning rod

The lightning rod

Create a power grid

Broad strokes to micro strokes

Decide the end result

Do a little math (Just a little)

Structure and chunking

Fill in the details

Lightning rod boosters

Your focus plan in 5 easy steps

And so...

Apply

Talktation: The new art of speed writing

The objective of this phase

What is “speed writing”?

Connect with your mind

Keep up with the lightning

Introducing talktation

Talk it onto the page

The speed of your keys

Talktation in 5 easy steps

And so...

Harness your idea overflow

Non-linear overflow

Too many ideas

Personal interference

Focus on the road ahead

Throw your ideas in the BIN

Grow the idea tree

Recycle for a boost

5 Easy steps to harness the overflow

And soo...

Ride your wave to the end

A different kind of wave

Chunking pays off

Write to your checkpoints

Find the optimal flow

Take breathers

Perfection is a headspace

Riding the wave in 5 easy steps

And so...

Strengthen

Inspect what you have

The objective of this phase

Inspect from a distance

Nothing personal

Feel the overall effect

The logic of your work

Your rhythm and flow

Missing and redundant ideas

Your problem list

Inspect your work in 5 easy steps

And so...

Decide which way to go

Create a strengthen plan

Decide which way to go in 5 easy steps

And so...

Amplify for maximum effect

One step at a time

The stages of revision

Control the outcome

Clarity and impact

Cutting, blending, and rearranging

Fix and move on

Objective feedback

Strengthen on 20 minutes a day

Amplify your writing in 5 easy steps

And so...

Tweak

Sharpen the speed of the read

The objective of this phase

The philosophy of tweak

Control the ride

Macro, micro, sentence

The words on the whole

Impact points

Beyond instinct

The speed of emotion

Sharpen your read speed in 5 easy steps

And so...

Techniques that command attention

Spice and variety

Visual imagery

Metaphors and analogies

Suspense and anticipation

Placement and emphasis

Time and the temporal shift

Show don’t tell

Command attention in 5 easy steps

And so...

Quicken and polish

The fine print

Spelling and grammar

Paragraphs and length

Sentence construction

Vague, cliché, unnecessary

The importance of doing this last

Knowing when to let go

Quicken and polish in 5 easy steps

And so...

The payoff

The FAST system in the real world

The battle against time

Short-form writing

The long-form writing problem

Life’s little distractions

Motivation and procrastination

Customizing FAST

FAST means Fast

The FAST system on 20 minutes a day

And so...

Squeeze the most out of FAST

The mental pre-flight

Quickly break down anything

The idea is the key

Flexible deadlines

Some phases will take longer

Fall in love with words

No comparison

Learn to type

And so...

How to reach lightning speed

Practice makes perfect

Always FAST

Daily pages

Hardwiring your brain

What is lightning speed really?

And so...

And So...

More FAST to come

The second edition

A word about my teaching

Beyond writing FAST

Final thoughts

About the author

The FAST System Step-by-Step

More Information