Part of the guide: Blog Traffic
For me, writing blog posts has always been a pain. As even though I love writing, expressing my thoughts and putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), it takes too long!
Like many people, I go on uncontrollable rants that seem to last for hours. What seems to last for hours usually ends up being 1000-3000 words of useless content… And even if it’s great stuff – I know my readers still won’t read it since let’s face it; who has time to read 3000 words of unstructured blog content?
…Not many people!
Over the years I’ve got a lot better at writing and if I go through the steps I’m about to outline – I can usually crank out 1 high quality 750 word article in around 15 minutes. So here are 6 steps to help you improve the speed and quality of your writing:
1. Keep A List
If you ask any of the top inventors, writers, bloggers, or producers when they thought of their amazing idea; I bet 90% of them would tell you it was totally unexpected. Or that it just came to them while taking a stroll in the park. It’s quite hard to come up with more than 10 great ideas on the spot.
Instead try subconsciously thinking about blog post ideas in the back of your head while you’re out. All of my great ideas come to me OUT of the office. Whether I’m in bed, taking a walk, or having a drink at a bar; they don’t come when I expect them to. So remember to jot down any ideas AS YOU COME ACROSS them.
2. Checkout Related Articles/Blog Posts (5-10 minutes)
Unless you’re an expert on the subject, you absolutely must read a few similar articles/blog posts. If you wanted to write a post on social media, but don’t know much about it… You CANNOT bullshit your way through an entire blog post. Many people make the mistake of talking through their asses and they always get caught.
Instead spend 5-10 minutes reading or scanning through a few related articles/posts.
3. Plan Before You Start Writing
Always plan out your whole post before you start writing. Generally my plans look like this and I do them inside my WordPress admin:
- Title
- Intro
- Point 1 (brief description of the point)
- Point 2
- Point 3 etc
- Conclusion
For example, the plan I used for writing this post was:
Title: How To Write Faster Blog Posts
Intro: Talk about how difficult writing blog posts are and how I never used to write them because they consumed too much of my time.
- Keep A List
- Checkout Other Articles
- Plan
- Close Distractions
- Write
- Edit
- Publish
That’s about it for a blog post plan. If you don’t know much about the subject, you should expand on the bullet points, introduction, and conclusion.
4. Get Rid Of Distractions
This was the hardest one for me to do. Living in a house where there’s usually lots going on – it’s hard for me to get rid of distractions altogether. But seriously, just do it and you’ll feel great once you’ve written a high-quality post in less than 25 minutes. This means closing all tabs like email, Skype, Facebook, and any other websites that have nothing to do with the post. Not just online though – turn off the TV and any offline distractions with the exception of some music.
You were never meant to do this alone
Reading this changes nothing. Doing it with people who show up changes everything. That is the whole difference between the people who transform and the people who keep starting over.
Start free →5. Write
Now that you’ve got an idea, done your research, got a plan, and got rid of all distractions, you can begin writing. All you have to do is expand on your plan – that’s it. If you read enough information from other websites and blogs, you should know exactly what to write. This is the part where you get really creative so be fun, cool, interesting, and well – creative. Don’t be afraid to try new things and most importantly – don’t read back any sentences you write unless you completely forgot what they were. No editing!
6. Edit + Final Touches
This is actually the step I despise. I hate editing, especially my own writing. I gain no satisfaction from pointing out errors in my own writing. BUT – you absolutely must read your post from top to bottom correcting every error along the way. By the time you get to the bottom, you can make the final touches like adding a few images and/or videos.
7. Hit Publish
That’s it, my simple 7-step process for pumping out high-quality blog posts in under 30 minutes. I usually do them in about 25 minutes – but that’s just me. Hit publish and start promoting your new post!
In Prosperity,
David Wood
P.S. Leave me your thoughts in the comments section below!
Comments
Chris Taylor, January 15, 2013, 11:00
David, these tips are fantastic! I’ve always struggled with staying focused when writing blog posts, but your advice on planning and eliminating distractions is a game-changer. I’m going to try your method and see if I can cut down my writing time. Thanks for sharing!
Sarah Morgan, January 15, 2013, 13:45
I love the idea of keeping a list of blog post ideas. I often find myself stuck on what to write about, but this seems like a great way to keep the ideas flowing. Your step-by-step approach is super helpful, and I’m definitely going to implement it. Thanks, David!
Amelia Turner, January 16, 2013, 09:10
These steps are exactly what I needed! I’ve been spending way too much time on each blog post, and your process seems so much more efficient. I especially like the idea of planning before writing. Can’t wait to try this out for my next post. Thanks, David!
Oliver Hayes, January 16, 2013, 11:30
David, your advice on getting rid of distractions really hit home for me. I tend to have multiple tabs open and constantly check my phone, which slows me down. I’m going to start implementing your tips and see if I can speed up my writing process. Great post!
Sophia Barrett, January 16, 2013, 13:05
Hi David, I’ve been struggling with writing faster while maintaining quality. Your tip about reading related articles before writing is brilliant! It makes so much sense to get inspired and informed first. Thanks for the practical tips, I’m excited to see how they improve my writing.
Henry Lucas, January 16, 2013, 14:20
This post came at the perfect time! I’ve been trying to improve my blogging speed without sacrificing quality, and your 7-step process looks like a great solution. I appreciate how straightforward and actionable your advice is. I’ll definitely be using these tips going forward.
Grace Mitchell, January 16, 2013, 16:45
Thank you for the detailed guide, David! I often find myself overwhelmed when writing blog posts, but your method of breaking down the process into steps makes it feel much more manageable. I’m looking forward to applying this to my next post. Keep up the great work!
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Worth flagging that the numbers don’t agree with each other: the intro promises fifteen minutes, step 4 says twenty-five, and the closing line says twenty-five again while framing the method as under thirty. Small thing, but if the pitch is a repeatable process, the process should produce a repeatable number.
Tomas’s inconsistency matches what I found timing myself against this. First attempt: fifty-five minutes for something like 600 words, mostly the editing step, which the post treats as an afterthought. Didn’t get under thirty minutes until my sixth attempt at this same plan-then-write structure.
The fifteen-to-twenty-five-minute figure is presented as the normal outcome of following these steps, not as a milestone reached after months of practice. In practice, most people I’ve watched try a structured writing routine like this take several weeks to get anywhere near that pace, if they get there at all, and a fair number never do because they measure themselves against the fifteen-minute number from week one and conclude the method doesn’t work for them. Worth stating plainly, the way you’d state it to a small business borrower, that the fast version described here is the mastery case, the number you get to after enough repetitions, not the starting case anyone should expect on their first attempt. Confusing the two is exactly what causes people to quit a genuinely decent process.
Fifteen minutes for the first draft, longer than that deciding whether to trust a post promising fifteen minutes. Credit where due though, at least he admits he hates editing.
Hector’s distinction between the mastery case and the starting case is the one the post skips entirely. There’s no baseline for how many posts it took the author to get from his ‘uncontrollable rants’ opening to a fifteen-minute routine. Without that number, this reads as a ceiling being sold as a starting point.
From the company side, that’s a real risk. We had it happen with field reps who wrote confidently on topics they’d only half-researched, and it got caught, publicly. The five-to-ten-minutes-of-reading fix here is thinner than what actually prevents that. A decent floor, not a safeguard.
Sorry if obvious, but how do you know five to ten minutes of reading was enough, versus just stopping because the timer said so?