Alisa Bowman from projecthappilyeverafter.com shares some tips on writing fast.
So you haven’t quite monetized your blog. That means you’re still working 8 or so hours in the non-virtual world for that paycheck. You may also have many other time commitments. They are called marriage, parenthood, friendships and Twitter.
With all of these variables vying for the same 24 hours, how do you follow Darren’s advice and blog at least every day?
You have a few choices.
- You could stop sleeping.
- You could give up the family and friends.
- You could learn how to write really fast.
If you’re tempted by option #2, I can’t help you, but I wish you the best of luck with that. If you want to know more about option #3, keep reading.
I first learned how to write fast when I was on deadline as a newspaper reporter. I, at times, had just ten or so minutes to crank out at least 800 words. These days I blog 4 to 5 times a week at projecthappilyeverafter.com, twice a week at Capessa.com and two more times a week at savorthesuccess.com. I also write guest blogs and magazine articles, and I ghost and co-author books.
All told, I’m typing somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 words a week. Yet, I spend only 6 to 7 daily hours in my desk chair. Over the years I’ve developed this 6-step system for writing fast.
Step 1: Know what you want to say before you sit down. As soon as you finish any blog, start thinking about your next one. Think it over as you walk the dog, while washing dishes, or even while staring at the ceiling at 3 a.m. What will it be about? What do you have to say? Go over lines in your head. For instance, at 3 a.m. last night, I heard the line, “Throw up on the screen.” You’ll hear it again, too. Real soon. Promise.
Step 2: Pick the basic format you will use to organize your blog. Most blogs fall into one of the following organizational templates:
- Q & A – Someone poses a question and then you answer it.
- Tips: You start with a couple paragraphs of explanation followed by a list of tips. This “how to write fast” blog follows this format, only the “tips” are “steps.”
- Story: Once upon a time something happened to me, I learned someone from it, and now we’re at the end.
- List: This might be a list of great websites, great books, or great people to follow on Twitter.
- Quiz or Test: You pose a series of questions or offer a check off list that allows the reader to figure something out.
There are other formats, too, but the key to writing fast is knowing and perfecting a few. That way you can create them quickly and easily.
Step 3: Throw up on the screen. (Told you.) Start writing and don’t stop until there are no words left in your head. Don’t stop for typos. Don’t stop for grammar. Don’t stop because you lose your train of thought. Insert quick notes as you write, such as CHECK NAME SPELLING, FIND URL, or WHAT IS THE WORD I WANT HERE? I use that last one quite frequently.
Step 4: Read your blog from beginning to end. Fill in holes. Tinker. Replace your all caps notes with real text.
Step 5: Read out loud once or twice. This will help you catch typos, pinpoint really awkward writing, and help you tighten things up.
Step 6: You’re done. Post it.
I just followed these steps for this article. So far I’ve been writing for 10 minutes.
What’s your best advice for speeding up the writing process? Leave a comment.
Alisa Bowman writes about the ups and downs of marriage at projecthappilyeverafter.com. She’s also the relationships editor at Capessa.com. Follow her on Twitter @alisabow.
Wow–what excellent advice! I have fallen into a really bad habit of trying to type out everything perfectly from the beginning, which doesn’t create a fast work flow. I’m going to try the “Throw up on the screen” advice.
This is similar to the techniques that I always used as a composer. Because I was not an agile pianist (rather a percussionist), most of my composing was done internally. In otherwords, I paced around the room, took bike rides, walked, etc. to work out the music in my head. Then I would literally sit down and “write” (rather, write it down) very quickly.
One thing that I must add to the topic is this. People would always ask me if I was worried about forgetting the ideas that were in my head before a piece made it to paper. The answer was simple: If the music was truly memorable, I wouldn’t forget it. If it wasn’t good, best to let my brain filter it out by forgetting it.
@hyermish
Great tips! I usually have trouble producing regularly with a full time job and two blogs. But this process really helps. I will try and think more about the blogs, when I am doing my day to day routine.
Thanks as always
T
Wonderful tips, thank you. I often use #1 and the step format quite often, and I can say from my own experience that it helps things go faster. I always feel I know exactly what I’m going to saying throughout the entire thing, minus a few details.
I will keep the other tips in mind, and even try to improve on the ones I’m already using. Thanks again!
Great Post. I realized I was already doing the “throw up on the screen thing” somehow.
Wow–I’m so flattered that you all found it helpful. I’m honored that many of you offered so many additional tips and strategies. I realize that I left off a few really important ones:
1) Coffee–I cannot write before coffee happens
2) Quiet–I write faster if there is no music (classical or jazz are ok if they are soft, but music with lyrics is distracting)
3) Never change your keyboard: I do not type classically (I’m self taught), but I do use at least four of my fingers and I can type really fast because I have memorized my keyboard. Whenever I try to use a new computer, it slows me down a lot.
4) Write what you want to write in that moment. Today I planned to write Alisa’s Free Marriage advice, but my brain was like, “And what free marriage advice would that be?” It just wasn’t there, whereas “Is Chivalry Dead?” was so ready to come out of me. Give yourself permission to change topics based on what your muse is telling you to write.
That is awesome advice. Great outline and format to follow. Im interested now in learing the other formats you have. Nice to know what the other methods are, im sure each person will find one method more efficent then others. Thanks!
The best advice I have heard is to separate writing and editing.
Set a aside a specific period of time for writing and just write.
Depending on the length of the piece, go away and have a coffee or leave it for a couple of days.
Then come back and see what you have got.
Knowing that there will be an editing period later, frees you to spend your writing time writing.
Any tips on typing faster?
Cheers
Rich
I was getting ready to scour the net for just such an article…thanks for the timely tips!
Great article. From personal experience, I would spend more time on #5 – proofreading. Fortunately, my blog has a large and dedicated audience that is more than glad to correct my spelling and grammatical errors in the comments.
Can’t recommend this process at all.
You’re teaching people quantity is more important than quality. If people don’t have the time to add value, then they should re-evaluate their priorities. Writing six blogs means you’re going to have six second rate blogs. That equals spam.
I like the “know what you’re going to say” tip. I keep a schedule of which stories will get posted on which days, so when I sit down to write I already know what I’m going to write about.
As a strong introvert, this is basically how I do all of my writing *laughs*. I think things out and then put them on paper (or on the computer screen as the case may be). It’s harder for extroverts who use the writing process as the way to work out ideas, but for me it’s perfect.
I used to drive my college roommate crazy, because I’d do all the research for a paper, and then I’d just sit around thinking about it. The day before the paper was due, I’d sit down and type it all out, review it, make corrections and print it out. And I’d get an “A”. She’d agonize over writing her paper for weeks, doing multiple revisions, writing and rewriting, and make a “B” if she was lucky.
I forgot to add…I use my commute time (about an hour a day) to do a lot of my blog “thinking”, that and time in the shower. Between the two of them, I have most of my blogs posts figured out and ready to write.
hahahahaha! I have indeed stopped sleeping.I have learnt to shut everything else on my screen DOWN! no distractions thank-you very much… don’t quickly read a feed, check your stats, look at your email… you know – nothing till that post is posted!
Great post! I will definitely be putting these techniques into practice to make the time spent blogging shorter and more productive. Thanks.
Great, practical advice. Especially the “throw up on the screen” bit, I use that myself, though I call it “Just write, don’t give a shit about how much it sucks till later.”
Number 3 is an excellent point – throw up on the screen – I often find myself agonising over spelling and tense as I write a post and this is bound to have a negative impact on the idea stream.
If possible, I like to ask someone else to read a post before publication to check for duplicated words, points that have been missed and any other suggestions, especially if the post is long and detailed or in the format of a “how to”. On “how to” posts I will check every step at least three times, sometimes more.
I have never tried reading out loud though, I think I will give that a go.
I wrote a web app specifically aimed at writing faster, it’s called Write or Die, it lets you set a word goal or a time goal and punishes you if you don’t write. Give it a try. It can help you throw up on the screen even faster.
My philosophy is “bang it out now, tart it up later.”
Anyway, the address it http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html
Hope it helps someone.
Nice and to the point. What I do is surf the internet all day looking for posts that interest me and I am conscience of what I type into google to find them. What I type into Google will become my post title and I build around the title always
When I’m writing, the two biggest wastes of time are: 1. Putting in my hyperlinks as I go. 2. Backspacing for typos. If I can avoid both things and do them at the end (which is very hard for me to do), I could save more time. Thanks for the tips. :)
As I read this – ideas just started popping into my head. Wow…! what a fantastic blog – so much value in such a short blog. Thank you for your experience.
As I read this – ideas just started popping into my head. Wow…! what a fantastic blog – so much value in such a short blog. Thank you for your experience.
Love your tips for writing fast, and they really do work.
I’ve worked as a newspaper reporter and editor for 20 years, and in that time I’ve learned to write very quickly. (Anything you do, you get better at, at least most of the times.)
I think you’re pre-writing tips are right on. When I’m in the midst of a story — or a blog post — I write it in my head, edit it in my head, etc. (in the shower, driving to work, going for a run.) When I finally get to type it, it’s like I’m just copying what I’ve already written in my head.
I find this tool, called Write or Die, is great for step 3!
http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html
What I struggle with is how much research to do. I start looking up something, then start following other leads, and sometimes even forget what I started out doing. Otherwise, I often keep looking for more information, for that elusive hook that puts the whole thing together. I’ll try and work on just “throwing it up on the screen.”
“Throw up on the screen.” I LOVE that!
I always ponder where I’m going and end up spending too much time trying to organize all of my thoughts…which are always plentiful.
Stream of consciousness writing with CAP fill in Instructions just gets it all out, then I’ll organize it.
Just throw up on the screen…So, simple…Will Do!
Zara
@ZaraGreen on Twitter
I too learned how to write fast on deadline as a newspaper reporter. Your tips are what I tell other people! In 1977, at my first newspaper job as an intern, I wrote by hand then typed, until my mentor editor set me straight: just sit at the typewriter and type! Gulp! I’ve been doing it ever since from typewriter to VDT to computer.
My problem is that the blog I plan to write, even with lists, needs some research (which I’ll reuse for printed books, ebooks and articles). Also, I’ll need to put in hyperlinks. Time intensive! I did this for my Free For All blog, which died when I tried to upgrade WordPress :( so I decided to start a new blog: http;//freeandfrugalfun.com
I’m wondering how to make the process more efficient.
Good, challenging advice. There is a lot of complexity hidden in step 1, I think–if you have a good idea of what you are going to write about, it makes throwing up on the screen a lot easier, and you don’t find yourself dry-heaving for lack of words.
@hyermish — I am fascinated by your mapping the memorable to the worthwhile. I don’t know if I trust the default workings of my brain to act as primary filter -and- aggregation point. Maybe this is because in step 1, I find myself surrounded with too many distractions. Or maybe I am deluded in thinking I have something worthwhile to say, when I find myself having lost the drive to explore something that previously capitvated me.
This really frightens me, that I might be more engaged to the *idea* of having a voice, rather than communicating something important. That is something to grapple with if you are trying to produce something that will remain relevant.
@darkolives
I’m not a writer, I’m an event engineer (planner). However, because of my ability to write as I speak (matter of factly) I receive quite a bit of traffic to my wedding blog.
Great tips, I’ll stop correcting as I go and “throw up” on the screen. It’s the photos that drag me down. I think my readers need the photos…..they have a short attention span. As I do.
Maybe you should also add: Practice makes perfect.
Because have written a lot of times and under stress of a deadline, you are now trained to do this.
For me working on just one thing at a time works best. I need to turn off phones, pagers, instant messaging, email, anything else that can interrupt me. Even if something comes up and it sounds like a 5 minute task, I’ll spend 5 mins switching gears, 5 mins to do ‘the task’, and another 5 mins to pick up where I left off. Do that 4 times in one day and an hour is out the window.
Awesome post! Good tips. I always correct myself along the way which i shouldn’t do, but i’ll try to fix. I’m a slow typer too which is one of the reason i’m kinda slow too hah. won’t fix that i don’t think. hopefully i can use any and all methods of speeding up my blogging seeing that i’m toooo sloooww
Thanks!
Hey did you write for the movie “finding forest?” LOL …. thanks for the post.
Great advice (I use those same techniques myself). I’ll add two more:
Don’t be a perfectionist.
Learn to read quickly, both because you do have to read your own stuff and because if you read everything else more quickly, you have more time to write.
I love the organizational templates under step 2 and I really need to follow the advice from step 3. I tend to stop writing and check for spelling and grammar errors, That definitely slows down my flow.
Love this article. I was just wondering to myself how I could write things a lot faster and still have time for my 40 hour a week (sometimes more) job and my blog.
One other thing I would suggest is keeping something on you were you can write quick thoughts or topics you want to talk about in your blog. That way you don’t waste time searching your brain about the one thought you had while grocery shopping, but can’t for your life remember what it is.
Thanks for the tips!
10 mins. is very impressive! I’m going to have to practice throwing up on the screen. One of the things I also need to work at is writing up posts when the topic is hot in my mind, and not waiting and losing the thoughts.
I have to admit, I’ve been kinda snickering about all these bloggers and writers who have been committing to writing 500 words a day. On average, I write 5,000 — using a method very similar to yours.
As always great work Darren. I’ll be using this one tonight for my blog. Wish me luck bude. –Ronald H. of Revenue Herald.com
A few people mentioned the time-consuming nature of hyperlinks. This is what I do:
1. Call the link something that I actually want to end up in the post, such as The Best Website for Bloggers Ever.
2. Cut and paste the actual URL next to that straight from the web browser (or type it if I know it and it’s simple like https://problogger.com). These C&Ps will not stay in the blog. They are just there for when I need them later.
3. I post the blog. I use wordpress, so you all may have different CMS. But in wordpress, you use that little link button to make that little window pop open. Then I just hit cut the URL from my blog and paste it into that little box. You have to make sure you don’t accidentally end up with two http:// doohickeys, but otherwise it’s pretty fast.
These are some great tips. It’s actually something that I can definitely use with my blog because I know that I do go back to make corrections quite often in the middle of my post. I also stop and think a lot.
Thanks for the tips.
sometimes i like to write very slowly, so i’m suspicious to talk about this! eheh
«throwing up on the screen» is a great way to write a lot, not necessarily good stuff. that’s why i would say that step 1 «mindmapping» is the heart of writing well. because that’s the all point of writing ..being able to put your ideas out there, in an effective manner.
Thanks for the great post, Alisa! While I’m lucky enough to have all the time I need to write, it still feels like I’m spending too much time considering the end result. Hopefully I can use your advice to cut down the time I take to craft each post of my own, and be happier with what I do write.
As for hyperlinks, my suggestion to people is a product called Zemanta. A really good blogging tool, Zemanta provides images, links, and related articles for blog posts. While it won’t catch everything you’d like to link, it usually does a good enough job, and sometimes catches things you might not have thought about linking before!
Good tips. I agree with the preparation part, that’s the biggest thing that helps me work fast and efficient. I also like the grouping of posts into certain kinds of articles (stories, QA, etc.), especially if you have a catch-all that can include other posts that may not fall into those categories. That way you don’t get yourself caught in a creative rut following the “rules.”
Thanks! Just tried the “throw up on the screen” technique as opposed to the “staring at the screen and endlessly thinking” technique and your is much better!
Interesting post, Alisa.
I find that free writing help the speed of my output. Just writing a stream of thoughts until I go blank then going back to improve structure and word flow. After doing this for awhile the structure and flow naturally flow with the thoughts.
I’ll select a travel destination such as Berlin. Then, let go with everything that comes to mind.
Excellent article. I have found this approach especially helpful when writing papers in graduate school as I was (and still am) a naturally born procrastinator. The other aspect that I really enjoyed is that you provide a great amount of value to the reader in a short space, and therefore a short time commitment on my part.
This has got to be one of the funniest articles I’ve read. Can’t stop laughing at:
“For instance, at 3 a.m. last night, I heard the line, “Throw up on the screen.” You’ll hear it again, too. Real soon. Promise.”
then as promised, I read it again at Step 3 :p
And i have to agree that stopping to sleep is not a good idea. I’ve done that before but it didn’t do me any good.
As said in the other comments, I’m also taking a lot of time in researching for my next post and also taking photos or finding copyright-free images for it since my blog uses images a lot.
As for writing fast, I agree that this is a must-have. I also attended a course on journalism and creative-writing and one of the suggestions in our class to avoid that writer’s block is to write up freely, as you said: “throw up on the screen” and just fix your write-up later.
boss advice. my problem isn’t writing quickly, it’s finding pictures and putting them in and all that bs. just feep writing through errors and then editing is key.