How to Write Faster in 7 Simple Steps
The ability to write fast is taking a million steps in the right direction as a writer because if you know how to write faster, you can meet due dates easily. You can also multi-task –write articles, eBooks, and so on– without feeling like a huge weight rests on your shoulders.
If you’re fast enough at writing, then you could also earn some money by charging your clients a fixed price per hour. Writers are expected to be able to deliver quality content by certain deadlines, which makes learning how to write faster a valuable lesson.
Speed and quality can have a correlation – rushing your work can often end in a sacrifice of quality. With some discipline and practice, however, you can get good at writing fast while still maintaining your high standards.
The faster you can finish a writeup, the quicker you can start on another one. Employers require writers who can multitask these days.
Slowly, you build a brand for yourself and you strengthen the pillar of your field of work. Most search engines – such as Google– single out encyclopedic and lengthy posts, bringing them to the front page of the internet.
It is essential to learn how to write faster and no matter how difficult it sounds; it can be easy enough to learn.
However, if you’re here now then you’re probably not writing as fast as you want to write. Perhaps, it takes you a whole day to get a short article done when it should have only taken an hour. It could be that you keep putting off writing a blog post or you never find the time to get it done.
There are a few methods to help you learn how to write faster that have helped many writers over the years, and are still helpful today.
After learning the seven steps and putting them into practice, you can be expected to:
- Write improved and sophisticated content faster
- Finish up blog posts, articles, and other content quickly without sacrificing the quality
- Take on larger writing jobs and finish up quickly with time to spare
Follow these seven steps to start writing faster:
- Know your current speed
- Start with brainstorming
- Eliminate distractions
- Create an outline
- Don’t worry about where you start writing
- Don’t edit as you go
- Keep track of your writing speeds as you work to improve
1. Know Your Speed Before Starting
Your speed is the number of words you can write in a given time, such as an hour. In case your patron or manager does not help you to know your speed, you must do it yourself. The distinction between writing an article with a thousand words and a piece with a hundred words is like knowing what gear to wear during the cold and hot days. You only need to know how to prepare yourself, and you need to know your aim because if you don’t, then you won’t realize how much groundwork you must do.
It is also best to know when you are productive. Is it in the morning? Afternoon? Or evening? There are a lot of writers who are more productive at midnight, especially when they have a cup of tea or coffee right next to them. It’s okay if you don’t know your most productive time of the day, you can experiment and find out quickly.
2. Start by Brainstorming
ather than beginning with researching or just staring at your computer, why don’t you begin with thinking?
Break out of your comfort zone (the confines of your room, for example) and do anything that keeps you tangibly occupied but your thoughts free like taking walks, jogging, and biking. Don’t assume the ideas will come to you out of nowhere.
As a substitute, supply yourself with a specific “writing challenge” earlier than you go out for your stroll, jog, or bike ride. When you try it out, you’ll see how easier it is to brainstorm and its easier for ideas to come to you when you keep yourself occupied physically.
Brainstorm With a Template
What you can do while you brainstorm is insert your ideas into a template. If you know what genre you’re going to write in, you can even choose one specific to this:
The template will have some guidelines that keep the story on track. While helpful, they aren’t restrictive and still allow for unlimited creativity and interpretation.
They will definitely make things easier for you and help you write your book faster.
3. Get Rid Of Distractions
Most of the time as a writer, it is hard to get any work done because as soon as you’re about to start writing, you get a phone call and after you drop your phone, you get a message, and after that you hear the doorbell so its no surprise that it takes so long to get any work done. However, there are ways you can get rid of distractions, at least while you’re working. They are:
- Turn off your phone. It is the most prominent associate of procrastination and distractions. Disconnect the landline or turn off your ringer. Perhaps let someone else know that is their duty to answer it instead of letting it ring the whole day.
- Inform everyone you live with; children, roommates, and family, that you will be writing and that you do not want to be disturbed at all. Let them know when you will start working and ask them to respect your decision.
- It is best to work in solitude. Work in a room where you can be alone, and there is no noise to distract you. Shut the door behind you if possible, but if you sit in somewhere like the living room then you are most likely to get disturbed.
- Tell yourself that you can do it and you will surely finish it. You should completely avoid negative thoughts and get rid of anything that will slow you down.
- Utilize a software or application like DarkRoom that gives you a clean and pure area to write without any distractions.
- Get rid of any item which could distract you. Let it stay far away from you at least until you finish writing. You probably don’t want to spend all three hours completing that jigsaw puzzle.
- If the noise gets too much at home, leave the house and go to a coffee shop where you can have some peace.
4. Write an Outline
It is pretty easy to write an outline when you have blocked out alls distraction and interruptions. You must plan, and one of the most significant errors that slow writers down is the fact that they don’t know how important it is to create an outline. That is the reason most will get stuck writing a paragraph with no idea of what to write in that paragraph or in the one that follows. Creating an outline allows you to solve any visible flaws easily and you start to come up with ideas as you build an overview because you have broken the topic into smaller ones. While you continue to write, the outline which you have created continues to help you to finish the task at hand, and it enables you to know what areas you have covered and what is remaining. It is easier to write when you know exactly where your starting and stopping points are. Mind mapping is also a great choice, question yourself and create options, inputting your ideas on your notepad.
5. Begin Wherever You Want
It is not necessary to start writing from chapter one. Many writers prefer not to start at the beginning and it works – it speeds them up. It is very common to start from the middle or the end; however, no rule says that whenever you’re writing, you have to start from a particular point. This way, you get a lot of work done as you’re working in the middle because you can already imagine how the beginning should look. If you have created a good outline, then you don’t have to worry about getting off course or writing something that doesn’t pertain to the subject. This isn’t to discourage writers who start from the beginning because there is no rule that says you have to start from a particular point. The most important thing is to know that you do not have to wait for inspiration before you begin to work on any chapter.
6. Don’t Edit While You Write
A lot of people believe that they cannot write without editing. It is best to write lots before editing.
As you write, you’re developing something. You’re adding words to an empty page, and you’re creating a story from nothing. You’re sharing your ideas in the way you’re thinking of it. You shouldn’t ask for immediate precision.
Listed below are some ways to help you not to edit while you write:
- Hide your display screen. This allows people who are completely addicted to editing while writing because if you cannot see what you’re writing, you won’t feel the need to edit it. If you’re using a laptop then you can just flip the screen. If this seems too extreme, then you can make use of a small towel. However, if you’re writing a piece that might take days to finish, then it is advised to keep the material in a single file and when you’re ready to stop, you copy the last sentence to a new document so that you don’t have to go back and start editing.
- Make use of notes. A lot of writers ask themselves questions as they write, and it reduces the speed of writing. Although the issues might be vital, and you might not want to forget them. So, you make use of notes, to write down the items on your mind so that you can check them out after you’re done writing. It gives you more time to write.
- Write or die. The write or die in this context is a fantastic online app which helps you when you decide to slow down as you type. It helps you to meet your goal, and as you refuse to write, the screen turns a darker shade of red the longer you don’t type, and ultimately the screen turns a very dark shade of red, and it gives off a loud and annoying sound. It is perfect for writers who decide to stop writing at some point and stare off into nothingness.
- Accept and listen to the sarcastic editor in your head. At some point, we’ve been tempted by that sarcastic voice in our head to edit this and that, and it points out all the wrong grammar and mistakes. Telling you to add a little more sugar and spice and criticizes you, but its normal. All you have to do is take a deep breath and remind yourself that you’re going to edit the content after writing. No one has ever written a perfect draft the first time they tried, not even the best and most famous authors.
7. Write Down Your Writing Times
You must write down the time it took you to write so that you can compare with your past speeds. A lot of experts at writing have no idea how many words they write, but it is essential to know. When you calculate the writing times, you will be able to determine your average writing time and speed. You can also keep a record of your writing, and the time it took you to finish each one using the following measures:
- The type of project and the name
- The date it was written
- How many words were written
- How long it took to complete the writing
- How long it took to edit
For writers, it is essential to learn how to produce content faster than they are required because the requests never stop coming. However, if you wish to work on the speed of your content turnout without reducing the quality, then you should follow the seven steps in this article. It might take some time to get used to, but practice makes perfect! Together, these seven steps should help you in learning how to write faster.
