Quality content is always going to be king but sometimes, you just need to shave a few minutes off of your writing time. Fortunately, you don’t have to sacrifice quality to write faster. You just need to know how to do both at the same time.
Here’s how you do it…
For those who want the down and dirty method of how to write content fast, it can be explained easily. Start by researching your subject, break your article down into smaller chunks with subheadings, write first and proofread later without constantly backing up to change what you’ve written and stay focused on the subject. You can also use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to drastically increase your writing speed while at the same time, focusing on your notes.
Pay attention to the following 7 tips if you would like more details:
1. Set Your Timer
I’m sure that you have heard about the importance of blocking your time to increase productivity. It is doubly important when you are writing, because of something known as Parkinson’s law.
Parkinson’s law states that “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”
In other words, if you give yourself three hours to write an article, it will take at least three hours to do so. The same can also be said if you work in one-hour blocks, 30-minute blocks or even less.
Tell yourself how long you have to write the article and then stick to it. Don’t give yourself extra time to procrastinate, just sit down, do your research and begin writing.
It may sound cliché but you will be amazed by what you can accomplish.
2. Don’t Skip the Research
If you are trying to write on a subject you are not familiar with, then research is a must. Spending a few minutes on research will save you a considerable amount of time when you’re actually pounding out the content on the keyboard.
That being said, if you are trying to cut down on the amount of time you spend on content, you can’t fill all of the extra time with research.
It is important to be balanced.
I find that researching the subject enough to be able to hold a conversation with somebody who doesn’t understand the subject will do nicely.
You don’t need to know everything about a subject to write about it. You just need to know the facts and you need to know more than your potential audience.
Researching thousands of subjects over the years either makes me a great conversationalist or the type of person you would want to avoid running into at a party.
3. Split Your Screen or Use 2 Screens
I work on a laptop, regardless of whether I’m at home at my desk or if I’m sitting at a picnic table at the beach. I don’t have the benefit of using two computer monitors, but I still make the best use of my screen.
For example, this is what my screen looks like while I’m writing this article:
In this particular case, I’m writing about the subject that I am familiar with, producing fast content. I don’t need to research the subject to death, I just need to start writing.
I keep the browser open on the left to do any research necessary and I have Article Tool Chest
open on the right.
If you must have a third window open, you can always use a program, such as TurboTop to keep it on top of all of the other windows. I find this to be beneficial when I need to have my own notes for writing or if I have to do a lot of copy and paste.
4. Organize Your Subheadings
If you are shooting for an article of any length and you still want to save time, it’s a good idea to break the article down into smaller, manageable sections.
The best way to organize the article is with subheadings. It keeps things simple so you can stay focused and on target. People also tend to scan subheadings, so it makes the content readable as well.
If you can come up with five subheadings for a 1500 word article, you are essentially writing five 300 word articles.
The end result is the same, but having smaller chunks to work on makes it seem less overwhelming and much easier to accomplish.
5. Keep It Simple
I am a firm believer in simplicity and I try to live a simple life. I also like to use simplicity in the content I write. It is less stressful and it makes it easier for the reader to digest.
Some articles tend to be all over the place and they may branch off in many directions. If you were to speak to an audience in that way, you would lose them very quickly.
Determine the key point of your content and don’t stray very far from it. Revisit the key point on occasion and never go off on a tangent.
Break your article down into an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Pull everything together nicely and don’t leave any questions in your readers’ minds.
If you have something else to say, and you will probably have something else to say, simply jot it down on a separate piece of paper and revisit it in a separate piece of content.
Don’t muddy the waters of your content or you will hide the point you are trying to get across.
6. Keep Moving Forward
Many years ago, I was watching my mother as she typed a letter to a friend on her computer. She would type a few words, back up, change a word, move forward a few more words, back up again and make a correction.
It was painful to watch because she was back and forth so much that she was actually typing everything twice.
If you want to write content quickly, you can’t be worried about the mistakes you are making as you are writing it. Don’t try to proofread your content while you are in the middle of creating it.
Create first – Correct second
We are all going to make mistakes as we are writing. If you are typing, there may be typos and if you are dictating, there are going to be some big blunders that fall through the cracks.
Don’t worry about those mistakes as they happen. Embrace them and move on. It may take some time before you get used to writing in this way, but it will increase your writing speed considerably.
7. Use Dragon NaturallySpeaking
I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking on my laptop and Dragon Anywhere on my tablet and phone. There is absolutely no way I could produce fast content without it and I’m no slacker when it comes to typing.
It may take some time to get used to dictating your content and there is an initial investment, but it will pay for itself very quickly.
The reason why Dragon NaturallySpeaking works so well for me is that I think a lot faster than I type. After I got used to dictating my content, I could keep up with my thoughts on any subject and put them down as they came to mind.
It is not necessary to use a speech to text application, but it is one very big way to increase your writing speed. If you’re trying to shave time off of your content creation, then Dragon NaturallySpeaking is the way to go.
8. (BONUS) – Don’t Go for Perfection
We would all like to write the perfect content but quite honestly, it doesn’t exist. It is a myth, something far out of our reach. Striving for perfection can even keep us from creating content if we allow it to do so.
First of all, you don’t have to know everything about a subject to write on it intelligently. Most people are not looking for more information than they need. They just want the question that they asked to be answered intelligently and in a way that is easily understood.
If you can provide the answer in a way that satisfies your visitor, you have won the battle. They will even forgive a mistake here or there in your writing style if you provide them with accurate content.
In Conclusion – Bringing It All Together
Creating content comes naturally for some people. For others, it requires a lot of work, thought and at least a little stress.
If you find that you are sitting and writing a single piece of content for hours on end, struggling to get your point across, you are taking far too long to do it. A good article should take no longer than one hour to write and you may even be able to shave a considerable amount of time off of that figure.
This article just crossed the 1500 word mark and I have been working on it for about 35 minutes.
When I’m finished writing it I will review it and it will be ready to upload in well under an hour.
I have written many 500 word articles for clients on subjects I’m familiar with and spent under 10 minutes on each. It’s not that difficult once you get the hang of it.
Don’t expect that you’re going to be able to crank out quality content your first time out in only a few minutes. Like anything, writing takes time but as you do it, you will find that your writing time is significantly lowered and your quality is much higher.