Kerry Cox - How to Write Faster Than Anyone Better, and Better Than Anyone Faster: a Practical Guide to More Profitable Word Production

Copyright 2013 by Kerry Cox

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Any members of educational institutions wishing to reproduce part or all of this book for classroom use should send their inquiries to Walkingbird Creative, 3625 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Suite 257, Westlake Village, CA 91361.

www.writefasterandbetter.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cox, Kerry

How to Write Faster Than Anyone Better, and Better Than Anyone Faster/Kerry Cox

ISBN 978-0-578-11987-8

eISBN: 9781626752078

Walkingbird Creative

3625 Thousand Oaks Blvd #257

Westlake Village, CA 91361

info@walkingbirdcreative.com

www.walkingbirdcreative.com

To all my smart, wonderful, generous clients. To paraphrase Carl Sandberg, Id either be a writer or a bum. Thanks to all of you, Im usually the former.

And to Mackenzie, who was the one on the way the last time around.

"I can write better than anybody who can write faster, and I can write faster than anybody who can write better." A. J. Liebling

Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life. Lawrence Kasdan

I wrote the first draft for this book in just under 28 hours.

I didnt stay up past my bedtime, I didnt take performance-enhancing drugs (unless you count Bass Ale), and I didnt employ penny-a-word copywriters from the Philippines to bulk up the content.

I simply wrote fast.

Did I write well? Thats your call.

I write for a living. Always have, and Ive been around a while. Ive written for every medium thats been invented to date (if you dont count stones and scrolls), and except for the copy on my website, a handful of spec screenplays and novels, a few random letters to the local newspaper Op-Edand this book, which was done on specIve never done it for free.

Maybe for the lucky and impossibly talented few who are successful novelists and screenwritersand for the prototypical starving artist, perhapswriting is an art form, an agonizing struggle to squeeze out a sweaty page or two a day, followed by endless revising and perfecting and polishing until every word sparkles.

Admirable. Laudable. But I cant afford that.

Ive got bills to pay, and I do it by manufacturing words. I assemble them in what strikes me as the right order, and somebody pays me for the finished product.

Are you cringing? Are you cursing me for a Philistine, a mercenary, a word-mongering whore who doesnt appreciate the beauty of the written word?

Well... grow up.

I appreciate art as much as the next guy or gal, and if I could write Of Mice and Men or Confederacy of Dunces, I would have by now. And if thats your goal, there are lots of excellent books about writing from the soul, and from the heart, and from your life experience. Study up, best of luck, and keep your day job.

When it comes to my work, the art Im looking for is the flourish of the signature on a check from my client. This is a business, and Im interested in trading words for money as quickly and as often as possible.

Is that your goal? If so, this book is for you.

Because this book isnt just about writing fast and well. Its about writing as a business. Its about growing your revenue, and increasing your margin.

From a strictly business standpoint writers are fortunate in a way, because were not looking at much in the way of business costs or risk capital. No inventory, no cost of goods to speak of, a little bit of capital expense in terms of equipment and software, some basic office suppliesnothing momentous. No, your primary investment in your business is your time.

Time. Thats your key business cost. So, it only makes good business sense to assiduously marshal that time, and spend each minute as cost-effectively as possible.

Im not going to do what Ive seen in other books, and contrive some secret formula that, once followed, will yield miraculous results. I think thats presumptuous, supercilious bullshit. I dont think any two writers go about their business the same way, so Im not about to sit here and give you a series of hard-and-fast rules and advise you to follow them with the blind trust of a lemming.

Im just going to tell you how I do it.

Not because my way is the best, or because Im the worlds greatest writer. Im clearly not. But Ive made a pretty damn good living at it since I sold my first short story for $250 to a (ahem) Gentlemens Magazine just after my 21st birthday. For over three decades now Ive been pounding keys and getting paid, so at the very least I come at this with more than a modicum of experience to back me up.

Over those years Ive developed some tenets and a basic work process that enables me to optimize my writing hours, because when Im writing, time is money in the truest sense.

So heres what youre going to get.

This book is divided into three parts. In the first, Ill focus on what I do to write fast. Again, no secret tricks, just a process youre welcome to follow implicitly, or use as inspiration for a process of your own.

The second section of the book is about writing well. After all, if you churn out garbage it doesnt matter how fast you are. Of course, by the same token, if you turn out masterful copy but you consistently miss deadlines and hold up projects, youll be out of work.

Youve got to strike a balance; write fast, and write well. I cant teach you how to write; for one thing its beyond the scope of this book, and for another, I dont know how to teach that. Its my hope that many of you reading this are already at least aspiring or semi-pro writers, looking to move up to the big leaguesor youre fellow pros, looking for one or two tips that might meld nicely with your style and help you maximize your $/TSW ratioRevenue per Time Spent Writing. (Well come back to that simple formula quite often.)

But even if youre a beginner, still paying your dues and looking to make writing a career, the disciplines I lay out for you in Section 2 should help you hone your writing skills.

Finally, Ive devoted a third portion of this book to a few practical exercises. Several of these are actually thinly-veiled facsimiles of real-world assignments Ive recently completed. Now, Ill admit that youre not gonna get paid to do them, which of course violates one of my Golden Tenets of writing. So itd be hypocritical of me to INSIST that you do these exercises. But hey, you paid money for this book, so why not get your moneys worth and give them a shot? Try putting some of my processes into action, and see how they work for you.

When applicable, Ill also note with each exercise how long it took me to send the first draft to the client. Again, these arent the actual assignments, but pretty accurate reproductions, and if you give them a try you can get an idea of how cost-effectively youre writing. In the spirit of total disclosure Ill also reveal how many client-driven revisions were required, and roughly how long each of those took as well.

Last word before we start. I read one how-to-write book recently where the author promised to adopt a friendly, conversational tone, throwing a comforting arm over your shoulder to guide you through the scary experience of facing a blank sheet of paper.

Im not going to do that. Im not here to be your friend. And if youre scared of blank paper, you need to find another line of work. Im here to... well, think of me more like a personal trainer. One who wants you to improve, expects you to put forth some effort, and is inclined to holler at you once in awhile to make a point.