Quickly Write a Great Article
Discover how to combine speed AND quality in 5 Easy Steps.
Some writers claim to be able to write a 400-600 word article in 20 minutes or so. For authors who labor over every sentence, claims like these are disconcerting. Are such abilities only in the realm of “natural” writers? Or could anyone learn to write great articles fast?
Actually, it is possible for just about anybody. Writing quickly and effectively has more to do with the ability to focus than it does with natural writing talent.
- Put Yourself in the Proper Frame of Mind:
Eliminate distractions, fire up your computer, get comfy, take a sip of your favorite hot beverage and get ready to write. - Have a Topic in in Mind:
Writers who are fast generally mull an idea for a few days before ever sitting down at the computer. Because the idea is already formed in their brain, the writing is more like dictation rather than the often painful “writing process.”If you don’t have a topic in mind, take 10 minutes or so to brainstorm some ideas and write them down. Then pick one. Pick the easiest one first. It will get you going even faster.
- Type, Type, Type:
Now that you’re ready, type as much as you know as quickly as you can. Type it out as if you were telling a good friend all about it. If grammar is a problem for you, then don’t worry about it right now, you can go back and edit later. Just write as much as you can on the topic.Using a timer might help. Place an egg timer or stopwatch on your desk and give yourself 10 or 15 minutes to write as much as you can.
- Do It Again:
Don’t edit anything yet. Writers, when they are “in the zone,” can often write three or four articles at a time in quick bursts. But you have to stay in the zone to do it. - Edit the Articles as a Batch:
When you’re finished, leave the articles for a while. Come back to them later in the day – or even the next day – and read them over. You might find that some of portions makes no sense at all or that you went off on a tangent. Take a few minutes to revise, cut and edit each article.
Once you get used to sitting down and writing this way, you might find that it’s not only easier than you thought, but that your writing actually flows better because you’re not worrying about each and every word.
So pick a topic, set a timer and try and write a batch of high-quality articles as quickly as you can. Then let us know how you did!
Carl,
I just hand it over to my wife and she’ll do any editing for me. Then we’ll go over what she had some questions on. Like Chris said, be the writer when you write. Enjoy the experience of it too – the flow state.
Bob :-)
November 3, 2009 at 12:20 AM[Reply]