I know most of us are working on a lot of projects. I know I have Azon Review Blueprint, my blender review site, this site, my PLR store, and plenty of other little projects. Sometimes it just feels like there isn’t enough time in the day to do all of the writing I need to do! While I do hire writers to help out from time to time, I prefer to do most of the writing on my own.
If you’re in the same boat, here are some tips that will help.
1. Do your research and outlining first.
I wrote about this on Bubblews earlier today (My Number One Tip for Writing Articles or Blog Posts FASTER). The first thing I always do is outline my articles.
The key to saving time by outlining is to make it a quick outline. Do your basic research however you normally do it. You may be doing some Google searches to get familiar on the subject, read some blogs, or go on a forum. When you’ve got your basic information you can make up a quick outline.
I start by listing the 3-5 big main points I want to make. For this article it was the 4 listed tips.
Next, include 2-3 things you want to include in each point. It shouldn’t be super detailed, just some facts or points to cover. For this one mine were:
List the big points.
Include a few pieces of information under each big point.
Don’t get too specific.
Do your research first.
2. Create list posts.
For some reason it’s a lot easier to create list posts. Obviously you don’t want to do it every time, but it’s a quick way to get your ideas and thoughts out there. You create a list of a few things and include a paragraph or a few paragraphs to explain each point.
Not only are these easy to write, but readers enjoy them as well! It breaks the content up into manageable chunks for the reader to digest. The “X Tips to Y” type titles also tend to get more people interested.
3. Write first, edit later.
The easiest way to slow yourself down is to keep changing things as you write. Rather than proofreading as you go, write all of the way to the end without fixing grammar or spelling errors. When you’re done, run spell check and read back through everything to make sure it’s good.
Why does this make you write faster? You lose your place, your flow, and your creative juices every time you stop. It puts a stop to your thinking for the split second you’re fixing something.
This was hard to train myself to do, but once you’ve trained yourself to stop correcting yourself you’ll see yourself getting your thoughts out better and faster.
4. Plan blog posts out ahead of time.
If you have time away from the PC, always bring a notebook. You can plan out your writing ahead of time! I always keep a notebook with me (well, unless I forget and I always realize it when I have a great idea). When I have an idea for an article or blog post I write down the title or topic followed by a basic outline.
One thing I realized is that just writing down some ideas isn’t enough. You want to include some of the things you’d include inside of the article. With just a title you’ll likely find yourself sitting in front of the computer not quite sure where you were planning to go with the article.
What do you do to write articles more quickly?