Wouldn’t it be great if you knew how to write a blog post quickly and easily so you could move on to other business matters that you enjoy more? Lots of people struggle with staying on top of their blog writing schedule because they get hung up in the process. It takes longer than they want. They struggle to find the right words and to convey exactly what’s on their mind. We all have our strengths, but even if you aren’t a born writer, there are tricks that make blog writing easier than you might think.
I’m a former newspaper reporter. Every day at work I had to crank out two to five articles to meet deadlines, and that was on top of other responsibilities that included proofreading other people’s articles, laying out pages and going to meetings. In order to hit my deadlines and please the editor, I had to write fast and well. The following blogging tips are tricks I had up my sleeve that helped me to accomplish that.
Here Are Five Tips for Writing Fast:
1. Set a Timer
If you give yourself two hours to complete a blog post, you’ll take two hours. Instead, give yourself 15 minutes to write. I can almost hear you thinking, “Fifteen minutes? That’s not long at all!” Please don’t fight the system. Remember, the point of these guidelines is to teach you how to write a blog post fast, not in as much time as you feel you need to take. If you use the timer method, you’ll write your blog posts in a jiffy. I promise.
2. Do a Brain Dump
Race against the timer to write everything on your mind, and do it fast. Don’t stop to correct misspellings and punctuation marks. Let your fingers fly, and don’t worry if you’re making sense or following a logical order.
It may take some restraint to not go back, re-read, and correct, but the more you write fast, the more you’ll learn to favor it. If you find you’re stuck for what to write, quickly make a bullet list of main points. This is your skeleton. Now flesh it out by spilling whatever it is you know about those points.
3. Start Anywhere
This ties in with the brain dump method. You do not have to start writing in a logical order. For example, instead of beginning from the top, writing the title or introductory paragraph, start wherever you feel like. You might already know something you want to convey, but think it belongs in the closing paragraphs. That’s OK. Get it down to overcome the blank page and blinking cursor. You can fill the rest in as you go.
4. Reorder Your Sentences and Paragraphs
After you’ve kicked up keyboard dust typing your thoughts like a speed demon, and you feel you’ve covered everything, it’s time to read over what you wrote. Some sentences and paragraphs will need to be reordered. Cut and paste them as needed into a logically ordered introduction, body, and closing paragraph.
5. Fix Your Mistakes
After you reorder your thoughts, correct any misspellings, and punctuation errors. The best way to spot mistakes is to read your article once or twice from your computer screen. Take a break, and then print your article. Now read it on a sheet of paper. You’ll spot more errors if they are present. There’s something about print that makes typos pop out like a sore thumb.
Conclusion.
Use these five blogging tips, and you’ll more efficiently write your blog posts. If, after trying this method, you still have problems with blog writing, you might consider other modes of communication like video blogging or podcasting. This is blogging after all. You don’t have to do it the same way everyone else does. Be uniquely you, from the words you use when you write to the way you choose to communicate with your readers. If you do this, you’ll be far more likely to keep up with a blog posting schedule, your articles will be packed with more energy and personality, and your readers will be clamoring for more.
What tips do you have for writing fast? Drop us a note; we’d love to hear from you!
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Monica Crowe teaches non-techie business owners how to set up and use their websites, blogs, and e-newsletters so they can make more money doing what they love. You can read more of her blogging tips at www.monicacrowe.com.
I write for my own blog as a hobby on a topic I’m very familiar with – it makes it easier to write when you know the topic. However with work I write more technical things and it can’t crank it out as fast – but I do try and set a timed goal like, I must have this posted by 3PM. That really helps. Thanks for the tips!
Hi Liz, It does help when you know what you’re writing about inside and out. For a lot of my articles, I need to do research, so that takes a good chunk of time.
Thank you for sharing your “race against the clock method”. I gave it a try today and really gained speed in my writing. I was able to get the skeleton of my blog post in 15 minutes but still needed to spend an hour to build on it and proofread the final version.
Gaelle, Glad to hear the speed writing worked for you. Granted, fleshing out the skeleton and proofreading can take some time, but even that can be time restricted. The more time you give yourself to complete a project, the more time it will take.
Outliners help with the above tips. These include OmniOutliner (Mac) & Scrivener (Mac + Win). Scrivener is a dedicated writer’s tool.
Hi Simon – Thanks for the comment. I’ll have to check those out, I’m not familiar with OmniOutliner or Scrivener.
Thanks for the tips Monica. I know I spend so much time making a post perfect that I end up never getting them out on time or not getting the results I want with frequency. I’ll definitely try harder to just “do it.”
Hi Sue – So glad you enjoyed Monica’s post. I know what you mean about perfecting the prefect post =)
Sue, You said it. Just do it! :) Nothing you create will ever be “finished” or perfect. You just have to know when and where to stop.
I like the idea of doing a brain dump against a timer, a bit intimidating perhaps but I can see how this would be really useful. Thanks for sharing!- Niall
Hi Neil – Glad you enjoyed the tips! Doing a brain dump is the easiest way to get a lot of words on paper quickly. Once you start doing it, you’ll be amazed at how much faster you can write. I like to brain dump on one day, and edit on another – great for editing purposes.
Lol. Yes, Miss Donna, a timed writing session is intimidating at first. But once you do it a few times you’ll be a pro at it. Thanks for commenting!
oh my gawd, Monica…just the thought of setting a time for 15 minutes is sending me into writer’s shock – yes shock – not block! when i recover, i’ll give it a try. :) i must admit that i have gotten faster at cranking out posts. i spend a good deal of time going back and re-reading to take out extra words and stuff. and yes – i recently adopted the “start anywhere” concept. this has been a huge help to me. thanks for all the great tips.