Does writing your website content seem to take all day? Do you have time pressures to write quickly, but just can’t seem to get the job done?
Here are a few helpful tips that can help you speed up your writing time so that you can get more done in less time.
1. Create a plan or outline. Before you begin writing your content, plan it out. Decide exactly what you’re writing about. Create the structure for your piece before you ever start writing it.
For example, if you’re writing a “how to”, then outline the steps you’re going to include in your article. If you’re writing an informative article, then what information are you going to share to support your headline?
Are you writing a tips article or report? If so, what tips are you going to write about and how many? Will it be a top 5 or a top 10? Will it be a list, or will you discuss each item. Create the structure and plan your content before you write it. Planning your content can be accomplished in a few minutes and you’ll cut your writing time in half.
Also decide on the length before you start. It will depend a lot on the form of the item you are writing. A lot of people make the mistake of trying to write exhaustively in a blog post, for example. It would be better to write 200 to 250 words a couple of times a week than post one huge article once a week or every 10 days.
2. Set a timer to keep you focused. Many times the reason it takes so long to write the article is because you’re distracted. From the Internet to chores and other tasks, it’s easy to get sidetracked from your writing. Setting a timer helps keep you focused on a single task. Set the timer for the time you think it should take to write your content piece. In particular, don’t overdo it on the research. You can find yourself looking at so many facts, figures and other websites that you lose sight of what you are supposed to be writing about.
3. Work in blocks. Sometimes writing a lot of content can feel overwhelming. Instead of looking at a ten-page report or a list of twenty blog posts, break them down into smaller sections that you can tackle easily. If you have ten articles to write, then write three and take a break. Come back, write three more and then take a break. Try to write for no longer than an hour at a time without taking a break.
In the next section of this article, we will look at two more ways to speed up your writing.
