With a good process, fast article writing is possible. Every writer needs inspiration and often more than half the work of writing is coming up with the ideas. Once you know what you’re going to write about, the next hurdle is getting that content written fast, because writing and deadlines go hand in hand.
With my clients, I am often the one handing out the deadlines in order for me to get their next newsletter out on time. Some of us work better under a deadline but if you’re not the type that thrives under pressure, here are a few tips to help you pull that content together quickly, without sacrificing quality, to meet those deadlines.
Always Outline Your Articles Beforehand
If you find it hard to get those articles written, an outline breaks it up into manageable chunks and makes sure that you get it done with minimal effort.
How to write an effective article outline:
* Write out around 2-4 subheadings for points you want to include in your article,
* Without thinking too much, make short notes under each subheading about what you could include,
* You might want to note down any helpful websites that you found in your research,
* Leave space for your introduction and conclusion, and perhaps write them at this stage if you’re confident about what the message of your article will be.
If you’re writing an article of around 500 words, each subheading would only need to be around 165 words long to reach that limit. Doesn’t breaking it down like that make it seem a lot easier?!
Writing the Article
Now it’s time to actually write the article and implement your fast article writing skills. This should be easy, now that you have an outline! It could take as little as 15 minutes, especially after you have a bit of practice. That said, it’s always good to have a few other tricks up your sleeve to make your writing as fast as possible:
1) Set A Timer: Set a timer and just write until that timer ends. For example, say you have thirty minutes free before you have to go out. That thirty minutes is perfect for writing your article! And it isn’t daunting at all. After all, anyone can focus for just thirty minutes. Think how much better you’ll feel after that thirty minutes is up.
The chances are that if you can just get yourself to sit down and work steadily for that thirty minutes, you’ll get the article completed without any problems at all. If not, just use another slot of time to write and you’ll get it done.
2) Just Write: Some of us find it hard to type fast simply because we want to keep going back and editing what we’ve written. Try not to edit as you go along. With practice, you’ll learn to ignore the inner editor and just get it done.
You can go back and edit once you’ve got the writing out of the way or ask your VA to edit and format. Just typing quickly should help stop the temptation to go back and keep editing everything and wasting time as you go along.
3) Use Audio: If you’re not a fast typist then consider purchasing software that turns voice into text. There will be a learning curve with this, just like typing, but many people claim that it’s the perfect way to get articles written quickly and for some people the spoken word flows more naturally. Having your phone with you while on a walk can be handy. If inspiration for an article hits just audio record your voice and document later.
The fast article writing tricks above are excellent ways to improve your writing speed. Ultimately, though, it all comes down to practice. The more you can get into good habits, the faster you can learn to type without editing, the quicker you’ll become at creating high quality content.