I haven’t always been the fastest writer. But through the past few years that I’ve been a freelance writer, I’ve picked up some tips and tricks that help me to write blog posts and articles fast.

How do you write a blog post or article fast? Have a topic in mind, don’t over-research, never edit or proofread as you go, block out distractions, write conversationally, and pick a time of day that you’re naturally most productive. If you follow these tips, you will be able to write a lot quicker.

In this article, I’ll share some tips that you can use to really speed up your writing. They will work whether you’re writing an article, blog post, or pretty much anything else!

Don’t Feel Like Reading? Check Out My Video On This Topic!

How To Write Faster

Nowdays, it’s not uncommon for me to pump out 1,000 words per hour or more of quality content.

Especially if I’m writing about something that I’m knowledgable about and can come up with most of the ideas off the top of my head, with minimal research!

But it wasn’t always this way.

I can think back to writing in high school and college. Like most people, it would take me hours to write a 500-word essay.

There are a lot of things at play that can really slow down your writing. Some of them are about having good writing technique or form. Just like going to the gym, I think writing is something that you gradually build up at. Just like going to the gym!

But an even bigger part of writing fast is just about discipline and having the ability to stay motivated. From personal experience, I’d say the average person is likely to get distracted DOZENS of times every time they sit down to write. Whether that’s looking at your phone, checking your email or facebook, or any number of other things.

So without further ado, here are some of my top suggestions for speeding up your writing process.

How many words should you be able to write per day? Check out my article How Many Words Can You Write Per Day? (Freelance Writer Goals) to find out!

Start With A Topic and Keywords In Mind

When you sit down for a writing session, you should never have to think about what you’re going to write!

If you’re writing for a client, your title and keywords are likely given to you. So that makes things pretty easy.

When you’re writing for your own blog, I recommend keeping a spreadsheet full of topics that you can write about.

Sit down for an afternoon and do all of your keyword research in one sitting. Then you should end up with a list of potentially a hundred or more possible topics that you can write about.

Then when it’s time to write, you just open up your spreadsheet and pick a topic that interests you that day.

This can help to eliminate a lot of humming and hawing when you sit down. If you spend 10 or 15 minutes trying to think of a topic every time you go to write a blog post, think of how much time you’ll save just by doing this!

Pick A Topic That You Know Inside and Out

The benefit of writing for yourself is that you’re likely writing about something you’re already interested or passionate about.

Picking a topic you’re familiar with is best when it comes to writing fast. Then most of your words can come right off the top of your head, without a ton of time spent researching.

Don’t Waste Hours on Research

A big mistake that many freelance writers make is wasting way too much time on research.

If you have to spend one or two hours researching every article, and then you spend another couple of hours writing it, it’s going to be way less cost-effective.

As a general rule of thumb, I try not to spend more than 15 or 20 minutes researching any particular article.

Of course some topics are more technical than others. If you’re writing about a topic that you’re unfamiliar with for the first time, expect it to take longer. And if I’m doing a comparison between two products or services, I may find myself flipping back and forth between their pages as I write a lot more.

But for basic topics that you’re already at least somewhat familiar with, 15 or 20 minutes should be plenty of time to do the basic research that you need.

For many articles, my research consists of Googling my particular topic or main keywords, and then reading through the first 5 search results or so. This will give you a pretty good idea of what to include, and what people who search for that term are looking for.

If you just combine all of the best points from all of the top results in your own unique way, that will already usually be better than any other resource out there. Just don’t get lazy and start plagiarizing, your work still needs to be 100% original.

Make Your Headings At The Start

When I start a blog post, I like to start brainstorming subheadings even before I write my introduction.

If you start by making your headings right away, then you don’t need to think of it as writing a 2500-word blog post. That can be super intimidating when you’re just starting at a blank page. Think of it more like you’re writing five smaller 500-word posts.

Giving yourself headings to start from also helps to set the general tone of the article and how the information will flow. That way you’ll have a basic skeleton of the article to build upon before you really get started.

Find out how long your blog post needs to be by reading my article How Long Should Your Blog Post Be?

NEVER Edit or Proofread As You Go!

Trying to edit or proofread a piece as you’re writing is a recipe for disaster.

You’ll waste so much time stopping to correct things, and you’ll never get into the “flow state” where the words start to just naturally pour out of you.

So do everything in your power to resist the temptation to edit as you go. Don’t worry, you won’t forget to correct it later. We have tools like Grammarly for that!

Personally I use OpenOffice Writer instead of Microsoft Word because it’s free and I’m cheap. One huge benefit of this is that it doesn’t have a spelling or grammar check built in. So I’m not constantly seeing words getting underlined in red!

I imagine this would drive me crazy if it was turned on, and really slow me down. So if you’re using Microsoft Word, I’d highly recommend that you go into File > Options > Proofing and uncheck the “check spelling as you type” box.

You can manually run your spell check from the menu once you’re done. Or better yet, let Grammarly handle all of your spelling and grammar because it will catch more advanced errors anyway.

Your Introduction and Conclusion Are Free Words!

Your introduction and conclusion doesn’t need to be a super original and well thought out thing.

Look at any blog post out there, and you’ll see that both the introduction and conclusion basically just summarizes whatever the main body of the post is talking about.

So you can think of your introduction and conclusion each as 100 free words.

All you have to do is summarize the main points of your article or blog post. Leave both your introduction and conclusion until the end, and then you can quickly skim through your post and pick out the main points.

Write Conversationally

Blogs, articles, and pretty much anything written for the web should be written conversationally.

That’s just how it’s done. We aren’t writing essays or academic papers here. So it doesn’t have to be super formal.

Start your sentences with “But” or “And,” or whatever the heck you want. (You can say “heck” too, if it’s your blog!)

Just let the words of your blog post flow out of you as if you’re explaining the topic to a friend over coffee. You’ll find that it all comes to you much more naturally that way.

Block Out Distractions

When it’s time to write, guard your time for the precious resource that it is.

Let your family members know that you don’t want to be interrupted for an hour or two.

Put your phone in airplane mode and get rid of any other distractions.

Once you’ve done your research, put your laptop into airplane mode.

You can alternatively use a Chrome plugin like StayFocusd to block yourself from accessing the internet entirely. Or just block particular sites like Reddit or Facebook that you don’t trust yourself not to check on while you’re writing.

Figure Out What Time of Day You’re Most Productive

I find that everybody has a few specific hours of the day that you’re most productive.

Most people either fall into being a morning person or a night owl. I’m sure there are a rare type of person out there that really hits their stride in the afternoon, but I haven’t met one yet.

For me, I’m the most productive the first thing after I wake up.

The earlier I wake up, the more work I get done. And if I sleep in, those extra hours I missed are basically just a write-off. It’s crazy.

So if I’m really busy, I’ll wake up at 5 or 6. It feels AMAZING to have written for 6 hours by the time noon rolls around! That’s basically an entire days work by lunchtime. Then you can do whatever you want all afternoon!

By the early afternoon, I find my productivity starts to take a huge drop and I’m at least half as productive as I am in the morning. As it starts to approach dinner time, I’m basically useless.

So I focus on the times that I know I’ll get the most done, and try to prevent anything from interfering with that. I don’t get a shower or breakfast until I’ve written for at least a couple hours. I just get out of bed and go straight to my computer. Because every minute I’m awake, I feel my productivity slowly dropping.

For you, it might be the opposite. Maybe you can’t really get started until 10 pm, then you crack open a bottle of wine and work until 2 or 3 am. Then you pass out until noon and repeat the same routine the next day.

You’ll have to be honest with yourself and maybe use some trial and error to see what works best for you.

Try The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro technique is one time management strategy that I’ve had some success with.

Basically you want to break your task into short segments. Usually 20 to 25 minutes at a time.

When your 20 minutes is up, you have a short 3 to 5 minute break, and then start another 20 minute work period.

After 4 of these cycles, you take a longer 15 to 30 minute break.

If you work best in short sprints of intense focus, then I think the Pomodoro technique is worth a try. The big thing is having the willpower to only take a 3 to 5 minute break in between tasks.

Personally I’ve adapted from the Pomodoro technique a bit. I’ll write 1,000 to 2,000 words, then take a break and wander around the house for a bit. Let my dogs out, grab a snack to eat. Then I’ll sit down and write another 1,000 to 2,000 words and repeat.

At least for me, I find I’m more productive if I force myself to get a certain number of words done. Since counting minutes can be fudged by not being as productive as you should be.

Conclusion

Nobody starts off being a super speedy writer. But with experience and a few tips and tricks, you can dramatically improve your rate of pumping out blog posts, articles, or any other type of writing.

Never sit down to write without a topic already in mind.

Don’t make the common mistake of over-researching your topic.

Break down your post into subheadings so it’s easier to manage.

Pick a time of day that you’re naturally the most productive.

If you do these and the other things that I’ve mentioned in this article, you should see a significant improvement in your writing speed.