If it were done, when ’tis done, then ‘twer well,
It were done quickly
Although he was thinking of killing his king and assuming the throne of Scotland, Macbeth might as well have been considering writing.
Whatever you’re trying to write, it can help if you start by writing quickly.
Like speed reading, speed writing for most writers leads to an increase in errors and repetition. It also produces plain bad writing. But bad writing is not so much of a problem as not writing at all, or not finishing writing, or simply declaring it ‘good enough’.
Write
Let’s say you need to write a paragraph on a new computer your company has produced. The paragraph will introduce the computer on a web page, and so needs to generate enough interest to get readers to click on a more information link.
Where to start: compare with other computers? Go straight to innovative features? Connect with the likely consumer by referring to their requirements? Try to guess what the marketing people expect me to say? Grab attention by being quirky somehow?
Let’s just write what we know without thinking about the finished paragraph, or the big strategy, or what reviewers might think.
The new Z400 netbook is as powerful as a bigger laptop. It uses less battery power and is lightest in its class. It has a durable rubberized finish and a low-power mobile processor. You can order custom colors. We use the latest green, efficient power technology for the display, taken from our larger more expensive computers. It features a shock-resistant disk drive, and you can easily upgrade disk, memory and battery. It has great built-in sound, an optional slim hi-def external DVD reader. It does cost more than the competition. It works all day on a charge and so fixes the main problem with ultra portable computers: you still need a power outlet. It supports the latest wi-fi standards. Click here for more info on the Z400.
Read
Now we have something to work with. It’s better than a simple list, because by writing (rather than listing) we have already moved beyond simple statements and started to think about connective material. But it’s not much better.
So now we read what we’ve written, and we also start to reorganize it. The aim is to criticize our work in the same way our intended readers are likely to do.
In our hurry we combined technical and aesthetic features, and significant information seems mixed with less significant. We also included a few potentially negative terms in what should be an overwhelmingly positive paragraph (‘more expensive’, ‘you can easily upgrade’, ‘costs more’, ‘external DVD’). Sometimes we present causes (‘supports latest wi-fi standards’, ‘has a shock resistant disk drive’) when we should be talking about effects (‘built-in fast wireless connectivity’, ‘resists knocks and drops’).
Let’s pick the bones out of what we’ve written, and rewrite it to better support our main goal.
Rewrite
The main goal was to make the more information link compelling. You should just have to click it. So let’s stick with effects – what this computer does for us, not how it does it – and leave readers wondering how.
What do I need in an ultraportable netbook computer? All-day working without power outlets. The speed I’m used to in my office. Toughness for travel, and fast wireless for when I get there. A bright display and plenty of options, including hi-def movies and great sound. Small. Light. Perfect for work and play. And it must look good too.
Tell me more about the Widgetmachines Z400.
Don’t ‘free write’
Free writing is like speed-dating; it’s less focused on the result and more on overcoming fear of the process involved. Free writers write – anything – usually for a fixed period and without stopping, just to oil the wheels of writing itself. Free writing is useful for kick-starting fiction projects, but I think less useful for writing non-fiction than speed writing.
Speed writing is different. You write quickly, without worrying about your reader or the final product, but you do attempt to focus on relevant material right from the start. More than a simple list, you try to connect points you’re making and sometimes you end up with usable material that survives the read and the rewrite stages. You read what you have written, reorganize it, dip into it, even read it backwards before rewriting it with your original big-picture goals in mind.
Rewriting is, of course, a major subject in its own right and one that we’ll be revisiting at depth here and in the upcoming rewrite newsletter. In the meantime we must write quickly, be bolder than Macbeth and not fear revisiting a quickly-written first draft:
I’ll go no more:
I am afraid to think what I have done;
Look on’t again I dare not.