Write Fast — With Great Results

I received some unexpected writing advice this week.

I listen to the Tim Ferriss podcast while I’m out running. It helps me with my business, and does pass the time while I’m out for a run. I find that when I run with a podcast in my ears, I concentrate on the words, not the distance or how my legs are feeling.

But that digresses from the point. The podcast I listened to this week was with a physicist and biotech entrepreneur Safi Bahcall. Not someone who I’d expect to hear writing advice from.

Well, this guy talks about writing ‘FBR’ — Fast Bad and Rong.

It struck a chord with me. There is a way to write, here you steer clear of distractions, move forward and make progress. It’s the FBR mode.

What Is FBR?

Good question. FBR means you don’t stop to check facts, you don’t ponder what might happen, you just put pen to paper and write. Fast.

If you are writing a novel, then one of the worst things to happen is you lose your flow. and it’s all of this stopping and starting that causes you to lose your flow.

In the ultimate method of writing FBR is to not even go back to correct mistakes. Word will prompt you to stop, go back and correct errors. This, again, will stop the flow. Don’t sweat the errors — you’ll catch them when you go back and edit your work.

Try this for a short time with your novel writing. It will help you drive those word counts forward. And bring you closer to your completed novel.

Steven Thompson is the author of David’s Goliath and INITIAL. He uses his writing experience to help others become better writers. His next book, BRUTAL will be out in Spring 2019.