increase essay writing speed

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How to Write Faster

Last Updated: April 25, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Bryce Warwick, JD . Bryce Warwick is currently the President of Warwick Strategies, an organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area offering premium, personalized private tutoring for the GMAT, LSAT and GRE. Bryce has a JD from the George Washington University Law School. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,071,118 times.

If you want to improve your writing speed, there are several steps that you can take to improve your efficiency and get assignments done faster. First, you'll want to do all of your research and organize your thoughts in an outline form. From there, you can set realistic goals for yourself and continue to practice until you improve. If you're struggling with the act of writing with a pen and paper, you should make sure that you're comfortable and have the right writing tools. With the right amount of practice and repetition, you can improve your writing speed.

Improving Your Handwriting Speed

• A mechanical pencil requires less force to write with than a traditional pencil.
• You can purchase a pencil or pen grip to make your writing tool thicker.

Tip: A gel pen may be easier to write with than a ballpoint pen.

• The traditional way to hold a pen or pencil is to support the pen in between your index finger and thumb while the pen rests on your middle finger.
• Angling the paper in a different way may also feel more comfortable for you.

• Whenever you feel yourself slouching, adjust your posture so you’re sitting correctly.
• If your chair is too low or your desk is too high, you may need to purchase new furniture.

Note: Maintaining good posture is also beneficial for your back and hips.

• Keep in mind that these shorthand methods aren’t known by everyone and can’t be used for assignments or on tests.
• It may take several weeks or even months to master these shorthand methods.

• If you still aren't improving after trying everything, just talk to a teacher and see if they have any techniques that may help you.

Note: If your hand cramps up or you feel fatigued, take a break and come back to writing later.

Finishing Writing Assignments Quicker

• Even if you’re a night owl, you may still be more productive in the morning. Write during different parts of the day to see what works best for you.

Tip: You can write during your productive times and go back and edit your work during your less productive times.

• For example, the main points of your article could be something like, "Describing circuits" and "Powering Electronics." "Describing circuits" could include points like "Explaining a simple circuit" and "Completing a circuit."
• Researching things in the middle of writing wastes valuable time.
• Include your sources in your outline to save time, especially if you have to make citations later. If you’re using electronic sources, bookmark them on your computer. Include notes in your outline about how you’re going to use your sources and what information you hope to take from them.

Bryce Warwick, JD

Our Expert Agrees: You will write faster and easier when you know what to put down before you get started instead of making it up as you go along. If you have 30 minutes to write an essay, try giving yourself seven to eight minutes of planning time.

• Wasting time on smaller details can drain time and make the entire writing process much longer.
• If you find yourself stuck in a section, move past it and revisit it later with a fresh mind.

• Clearing the clutter off your writing desk may also minimize distractions and improve your efficiency.
• If you can, put away your phone, tablet, or other devices you might be tempted to use to check social media or browse the web. You can also use productivity apps or extensions (like StayFocused) that temporarily cut off your access to time-wasting websites.

• Set incrementally higher goals for yourself rather than taking on too much too fast.
• If you haven’t written a lot in the past, you won’t be able to write quickly without practice. However, once you practice writing a lot, you will be able to write at a quicker pace.
• For instance, you can set a goal that you’ll have a certain number of pages or words completed within a day. If you’re still working on building speed, daily goals can feel more manageable than more short-term ones (such as hourly goals).

• Don’t let the timer stress you out. It’s merely there to remind you of how much time you’re spending on an assignment.

Tip: Take 3-5 minute breaks every 30 minutes to an hour so that you don’t burn yourself out.

Practice Exercises to Increase Writing Speed

Community Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://effectiviology.com/how-to-easily-improve-handwriting-speed/
• ↑ https://omniglot.com/writing/shorthand.htm
• ↑ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-faster
• ↑ https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/writingprocess/outlining
• ↑ https://open.lib.umn.edu/writingforsuccess/chapter/8-4-revising-and-editing/
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/faster-writer/

About This Article

To write faster by hand, use keywords instead of writing things word for word and use symbols like the plus sign, "@" symbol, and ampersand. Try learning a shorthand system and practice the techniques that work for you as much as possible. To write articles or essays more quickly, get all your research done first and create a rough outline. Focus on writing your ideas clearly and don't worry about making it sound perfect. Work somewhere you can concentrate and turn your phone off to minimize distractions. For tips on staying on track and more shorthand techniques, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write Faster: 19 Effective Strategies to Increase Your Writing Speed

It’s strategy, not talent, that will help you write thousands of words a day.

By Natasha Khullar Relph

Two years into my writing career, I made a simple but career-changing realization: If I could double my writing speed, I could do twice the work in the same amount of time, allowing me to increase my income significantly .

More than just the money, though, one of my biggest frustrations as a writer until then—with a folder full of unfinished manuscripts to prove it—had been that the longer I took to finish a project, the more likely it was that I would get bored and abandon it midway. I knew that if I could teach myself to write faster, my freelance writing career would benefit from increased income and opportunities, and my books would actually get finished .

I made it my mission to learn how I could write thousands of words each day and, as a result, over the last fifteen years I have written 1,000+ articles for national and international publications, 3,000+ blog and newsletter posts , and almost a dozen books .

How fast you write impacts your work in a number of ways. It allows you to create more free time in your life if that’s what you choose; increase your income, if you need it; or simply create a larger body of work, giving you the room to experiment with new projects frequently instead of remaining stuck on a single one for years.

If you, too, want to learn how to write faster, here are some practical tips to boost your writing speed:

• Don’t start with a blank page
• Minimize distractions
• Use triggers to get into writing flow
• Honor your own creative process
• Create a workflow
• Use writing sprints
• Learn to type faster
• Try freewriting
• Use placeholders
• Know that editing is not writing
• Embrace the art of productive procrastination
• Be comfortable when you write
• Utilize the Pomodoro technique
• Write by hand
• Try dictation
• Improve by 1% each day
• Take part in writing challenges
• Be accountable
• Give it time

1. Don’t start with a blank page

Listen, the trope of the writer battling the blank page? It’s largely false when it comes to professional writers. Anyone who has a deadline and needs to meet it in order to pay their bills knows that starting with nothing is the domain of the uninformed. Most professional writers know what they want to say before they sit down to write, even if they’re not quite sure how they’re going to do it yet.

You don’t need an entire outline before you begin, though some people prefer to use one as a creative map. If you’re just beginning to get clarity on your writing project, begin with what you have.

• If you’re a journalist on deadline, jot down the main points of the story idea you’ve discussed with your editor and the questions your article will need to answer.
• A blogger wondering what your next post should be about? Do a brain dump of the topics your audience is interested in.
• If you’re a nonfiction author, jot down the main points that the next chapter will need to cover, and divide it up with subheadings.
• A first-time novelist stalled on the next scene? Use a character template to better understand your protagonist, or list out all the major events that happen in the next scene.

2. Minimize distractions

Hear me when I say this: If you leave Instagram or other social media open on a browser tab as you’re writing, you will be tempted to check in. It’s important to minimize and, when possible, eliminate distractions that can derail your focus, slow your progress, and sap your creative energy. Here are a few ways to maintain undivided focus:

• Have a dedicated writing space and make it a distraction-free zone.
• Silence devices and mute notifications when you’re writing.
• Block out any noise disturbances with headphones or soothing music.
• Keep your area organized.
• Let other people in your home know when you’re writing and would like to not be disturbed.
• Use apps like Freedom , which block distracting websites and apps for a set period of time.
• Use the full-screen option on your word processor or writing tool of choice, which eliminates everything on your screen, except your page. Most writing software, including Microsoft Word and Google Docs, offer this option.

3. Use triggers to get into writing flow

The best way to build a writing habit that results in faster writing? Trick your brain. Just as Pavlov’s dogs associated the bell ring with food, your brain associates the trigger with writing. This creates a conditioned response, making it easier to quickly shift your mental state from distraction to concentration, leading to improved writing speed and efficiency.

To use triggers effectively:

• Identify your trigger: It can be as simple as lighting a scented candle or playing a specific playlist.
• Create a routine: Implement your trigger consistently before each writing session, establishing a habit.
• Associate it with writing: Ensure the trigger is uniquely associated with the act of writing. Over time, your brain will connect the two.

4. Honor your own creative process

Some writers like to wake up in the morning and get their work done before anyone else is out of bed. Others are night owls. Some of us write full time, while others do it part time or as a hobby. Some writers prefer scene-by-scene outlines before they’ll commit a single word to the page while others fly by the seat of their pants.

If you’re a night owl who’s being forced to write in the morning, you’re not going to be your most creative self. That will show up in both your writing speed and the joy you experience in the actual writing process.

That’s why it’s important to be true to yourself and honor your unique creative process. When you work with your creative energy rather than against it, speed will naturally follow.

5. Create a workflow

One of the best things I did to increase my writing speed is to create templates and workflows for every piece of writing.

There are always going to be the same steps involved in writing a blog post—outline, research, first draft, editing, proofreading, finding or creating images, and publishing—and if I could systematize the process, then I’d spend less time worrying about the next step and more time actually doing it.

For example, I know from experience that I’m more productive when I’m batching my tasks. So I make a list of all the stories I have due to my editors over the next two weeks and do certain tasks, such as researching and setting up interviews, for all the stories in one go. Similarly, when I know I have a bunch of book chapters to write , I’ll outline as many as I can before I start the actual writing. The editing process? Far easier to get through ten posts at once when I’m in the self-editing zone than trying to do them one at a time.

6. Use writing sprints

This is the single most important writing tip I can give you to increase speed. Because when I started implementing writing sprints into my process, my word count practically exploded . I went from writing 500-1,000 words a day to 3,000-5,000 words, often effortlessly.

So what are writing sprints? They’re focused, time-limited writing sessions typically lasting from 10 minutes to 25 minutes, during which you commit to uninterrupted, intensive writing, with the goal of writing as much as possible. Sprints, especially when they’re short and focused, can be an excellent way to channel your focus and boost your productivity —and word count.

Sprints are an excellent writing tool for a few reasons:

• They encourage intense, concentrated speed writing by giving you limited writing time.
• They can help you push through writer’s block , resistance, and hesitation.
• The pressure of a sprint can lead to creative breakthroughs and innovative ideas.
• Completing multiple sprints in succession builds writing momentum and a sense of accomplishment without having to spend a lot of time in the chair.
• By sprinting with others, you can share writing goals and progress, fostering accountability and motivation.
• Word sprints allow you to allocate time specifically for writing and use it wisely.
• You don’t need to write every day to see results.

7. Learn to type faster

It’s not frequently talked about, but think about it: If you’re a slow typist, you’re limiting how many words you can get out on to the page, right?

The pecking and hunting of keys I was doing in my first year of freelancing wasn’t getting me to my goals fast enough, and so, the impatient writer that I am, I taught myself to touch type. This involves learning how to type without looking at the keyboard. By mastering touch typing, you can type faster and more accurately, and this automatically increases your writing speed.

To become proficient at touch typing:

• Familiarize yourself with your keyboard layout, since knowing the position of each key and its function is essential for efficient typing.
• Considering using typing software and apps designed to improve your typing speed and accuracy.
• The key to improving typing speed is consistent practice. You may find it incredibly frustrating in the beginning when you’re learning the basics and your speed crashes to a halt as you figure out where your fingers go. However, I can promise you that the more you practice, the more exponentially your speed will rise when you become proficient.
• Online typing games and tests can be both fun and educational. They provide real-time feedback on your typing speed and accuracy, motivating you to improve.

8. Try freewriting

To eliminate perfectionist tendencies, try freewriting.

Freewriting involves setting aside your inner critic and letting your thoughts flow freely on to the page or screen. It’s a process of writing without rules or structure. During a freewriting session, your goal is to generate stream of consciousness writing. Don’t worry about grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors. Let the grammar checker handle that later. For now, just focus on capturing your thoughts, feelings, and ideas as they arise.

Freewriting isn’t something you’ll be doing when you’re working on deadlines or work that’s meant for publication. Instead, use freewriting for practice. By learning to loosen up your mind and your fingers during freewriting sessions, you’ll find it easier to do when writing for publication as well.

9. Use placeholders

If all else fails, try using the old journalist’s trick of using TK as a placeholder when you need to check a fact or research something. TK stands for “to come” and easily stands out in a document because there’s no word in the English language where those two letters appear together.

Using TK as a placeholder allows you to do a global search of your document once you’ve finished the first draft and find areas you need to address without breaking the flow of your writing in the moment. This is an especially great tip for writers who waste time going down a rabbit hole of research and end up losing hours or days of writing time to aspects of the work that are better handled later.

10. Know that editing is not writing

The simplest answer to the question “How do I write faster?” is “By not stopping when you’re in the middle of it.”

That’s exactly what most writers do, of course. You’ll be in the flow with a scene and you’ll stop to fix a typo. Or you’re racing through your rough draft when you notice that the formatting is wonky and must be fixed before you can type another sentence.

Hear me when I say this: Researching is not writing. Revising is not writing. Proofreading? Not writing.

There will be time for all of that later. When you’re in the editing phase, you will come back to this manuscript and go through it with an editor’s eye. But when you’re writing, the creator in you needs to have the freedom to race ahead without being bound by the constraints of spell check.

If you want to become a faster writer, leave the editor at the door when you sit down to write.

11. Embrace the art of productive procrastination

Productive procrastination is my superpower and one of the main reasons I’m able to remain prolific even when I get creatively blocked on certain projects.

The concept itself refers to a situation where you delay or avoid working on a primary or essential task by engaging in other productive activities or tasks. These alternative activities, while unrelated to the primary task, are still productive in nature and can provide a sense of accomplishment.

For example, this morning I was meant to be working on a novel synopsis that an editor has requested. I found myself procrastinating on this job, but instead of watching Netflix or playing a video game, which is what I would have done a few years ago, I started writing this article. While I am still procrastinating on the synopsis, rather than engaging in unproductive or time-wasting behaviors, such as mindlessly browsing social media or watching TV, I’m bringing another project closer to the finish line instead.

12. Be comfortable when you write

While many writers like to get dressed and put on make-up before they sit down to write so they can feel more professional while “on the job,” I lean more towards comfort.

Being comfortable while I write, whether that’s in bed or in a coffee shop, is essential to nurturing my creativity and sustaining productivity. When I’m physically comfortable, I can focus on my plot and how my character’s situation is going to work out, rather than the cramp in my leg or the way the chair is digging into my back.

Create an environment that promotes focus and minimizes distractions. This can make a significant difference in the quality and quantity of your output. Consider investing in an ergonomic chair, a well-designed workspace, and proper lighting to enhance your comfort, especially during extended writing sessions. Maintaining good posture and taking short breaks to stretch can prevent discomfort and fatigue, allowing you to stay immersed in your writing without interruptions.

13. Utilize the Pomodoro technique

The Pomodoro technique is a time management and productivity method that’s designed to help individuals enhance their focus, manage distractions, and improve productivity by breaking work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks.

With this method, you’d select a task you want to work on, set a timer for 25 minutes (a Pomodoro) and don’t stop writing until the timer goes off. When the Pomodoro timer rings, take a five-minute break, and then start another Pomodoro to continue working on the tasks. Typically, after completing four Pomodoros (about two hours of work), you’d take a longer break of 15-30 minutes.

Here are some ways in which the Pomodoro technique can be useful for writers and why I recommend you try it:

• Structured work intervals: The Pomodoro technique breaks your work into focused intervals, during which you commit to focused writing, eliminating distractions and maintaining a consistent pace.
• Time management: By allocating a specific duration to your writing tasks, the Pomodoro technique encourages you to manage your time effectively .
• Preventing burnout: The regular breaks built into the Pomodoro technique are crucial for preventing burnout. Extended writing sessions can lead to mental fatigue, which hampers your creativity and productivity. Short breaks provide an opportunity to recharge, clear your mind, and return to writing with renewed energy and focus.
• Incremental progress: Writing a large document or tackling a substantial project can feel overwhelming. This method encourages you to approach your work in smaller, more manageable chunks. Over time, these focused intervals accumulate, leading to a significant amount of written content.
• Tracking and reflection: The technique’s structured approach allows you to track your writing sessions more effectively. You can monitor how many Pomodoros you complete in a day and use that to assess your productivity.
• Enhanced concentration: One of the biggest benefits of the Pomodoro technique is in its ability to enhance concentration. During each Pomodoro, you’re encouraged to maintain a laser-like focus on your writing. Over time, this practice can improve your ability to concentrate for extended periods, making your writing sessions more efficient.

14. Write by hand

When it comes to the decision of whether to type or write by hand, the choice may not be solely about handwriting speed. It’s also about which method opens up a different creative part of your brain. Many writers find that picking up a fountain pen and putting it to paper can to be a conduit to a more profound connection with your thoughts and ideas.

So, how do you write faster when using this analog method? My recommendation would be to use this process for idea generation and deeper connections through journaling, especially if you’re stuck with a project and need to generate a path forward quickly.

15. Try dictation

Dictation can be a game-changing tool for many writers, especially if you’re a slow typist and find it difficult to keep pace with your thoughts. Dictation, which involves speaking your words aloud for transcription, uses voice recognition software to significantly boost your writing output. Here’s why.

• Faster than typing: For most people, speaking is faster than typing. You can articulate your thoughts quickly and naturally, and this speed advantage allows you to capture ideas as they flow.
• Hands-free multitasking: Dictation frees up your hands, allowing you to “write” while you’re doing household chores, taking a walk, or relaxing on the sofa.
• Conversational tone: Dictation often results in a more conversational tone in your writing. This can be particularly useful for dialogue in fiction, blog posts, or speeches.

To get started with dictation, you’ll need a compatible device or software, such as a smartphone with voice recognition capabilities or dedicated dictation software. It’s also important to remember that while dictation can be a powerful tool to increase your writing speed, it may take some practice to become proficient and start creating high-quality content.

16. Improve by 1% each day

The principle of improving by 1% each day is a powerful concept that can have a profound impact on your writing speed and overall productivity. It’s based on the idea that consistent, incremental progress can lead to significant improvements over time. While aiming for massive leaps in writing speed may seem daunting, committing to a 1% improvement over the next day is manageable and sustainable.

The beauty of this approach is that it allows you to focus on small, achievable goals. By dedicating a small portion of your time to deliberate practice and skill development, you gradually build proficiency. Over weeks and months, these incremental gains compound, resulting in noticeable enhancements in your writing speed.

Moreover, the 1% improvement mentality encourages consistency and perseverance, key traits for any writer.

17. Take part in writing challenges

If you want to level up quickly, on the other hand, a writing challenge can push you out of your comfort zone and be a powerful motivator. Knowing that you have a limited window of time to complete a writing task encourages you to focus and hit those word count goals efficiently. This time pressure can help you overcome procrastination and writer’s block, forcing you to dive into writing and maintain a steady pace. Over time, this practice improves your ability to work swiftly without compromising quality.

Here are the challenges I recommend for speeding up your writing:

• NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) : Write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days during the month of November. (If you’re doing this, don’t forget to check out our 30-day book writing plan .)
• Story a Day : A month-long short story challenge in which writers write a short story every day in May.
• 12 x 12 : Write a children’s picture book every month of the year
• The 365 Writing Challenge : Write 1,000 words a day for a year.
• 30 Days, 30 Queries : Our very own freelance pitching challenge, in which writers write and send 30 pitches to national and international publications over 30 days.

18. Be accountable

There’s only so much you can do on your own. When your motivation starts lagging, it’s time to bring in some accountability. Accountability can look different from writer to writer, depending on how much help you need to say on track, your relationship with external validation, and your personal preferences.

Some ways to build accountability into your writing process include:

• Join a writing group: Participate in a group or workshop where members share their goals and progress.
• Find a writing partner: You can set goals together, as well as check in at a certain time of day or week, in order to track progress.
• Use apps: There are multiple apps and online tools designed to help writers set and track their goals. These can send reminders, track word count goals, and provide visual progress updates.
• Create a reward system: Reward yourself for meeting writing milestones. It could be a small treat, a special activity, or anything else that keeps you motivated.
• Publicly declare your goals: Share your writing goals on social media or with your friends and family. Knowing that others are aware of your objectives can boost your commitment.

19. Give it time

Fast writing doesn’t develop overnight. It’s a skill that evolves alongside your overall writing proficiency. As you progress along your journey, your writing skills and speed will naturally improve. However, it’s crucial to understand that achieving excellence in writing, whether in terms of speed or quality, primarily comes from practice and dedication.

Want to write better? Write more.

Want to be a writer faster? Write more.

Want to produce a larger body of work? Write more.

Good writing comes from practice. Make sure, daily, to practice more.

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How To Write Faster: 20 Hacks For Boosting Writing Speed

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Is slow writing cramping your style and affecting your productivity? Learning how to write faster can dramatically improve your workflow and help your hands keep up with your thoughts.

In my 15 years of freelance and content writing experience, I’ve learned quite a few hacks that will certainly help you optimize writing speed if you actually implement them.

In this article, I’ll share 20 useful tips for accelerating your writing speed without compromising quality . Let’s jump right in!

20 things you can do to write faster

1. block the time for writing.

Ever find yourself not satisfied with how much you managed to write in a week? This is likely due to the lack of proper planning and time management.

Failing to prioritize writing often leads to lower productivity because there are so many other things seeking (and often winning) your attention.

It’s easy to get caught in the trap of “I’ll write when I find the time,” but let’s be honest: that time often never comes. There is always something else to do.

Tools like Sunsama allow you to plan and prioritize your workload every day to make sure you have the time to sit and write. The idea is to block time in your calendar specifically for writing, treat it as non-negotiable, and then plan everything else around it .

Since I started daily planning with Sunsama (read my full review here ), I noticed how much more focused I am and how much faster I write when it’s on my schedule and I get into the flow.

You can also use AI schedulers like Motion to automatically schedule your tasks into your calendar around your meetings and other time-bound arrangements.

In this example schedule, I dedicated 4 hours per day to focused writing, which means saying no to everything else during that time. (You can read more about Motion in my detailed review. )

8 Best AI Day Planner Tools & Apps In 2024

2. Get yourself in a productive mood

How many times have you sat down to write only to find your mind wandering or stuck in a mental fog?

You might feel like you should be able to just “power through,” but writing in that lazy mood usually leads to wasted time and subpar work. The key here is to prepare for a successful writing session before you even start!

Take a few minutes to engage in an activity that boosts your mood and sharpens your mind. Find your own effective ways of pumping yourself up for writing and getting your creative juices flowing. You’ll find that this preparatory step can significantly accelerate your writing process and produce better-quality results!

How To Get Into A Productive Mood Right Now: 13 Quirky Ideas

3. use ai writing tools.

Depending on what you are writing (it might be a book, an article, an essay, a social media post, or even an email), you can leverage different tools to generate the first rough draft.

I often find that editing something is mentally easier than writing from scratch. Even if the generated text is not exactly what you had in mind, it helps you get going and think about how you want to see it. As you polish or rewrite bits and pieces, you gradually fill your blank page with your own thoughts.

In many cases, you end up finishing faster than you would without AI writers.

Additionally, AI tools can generate ideas and additional angles in an instant, giving you food for thought and something to work with.

While these tools won’t entirely replace your creative input, they do offer a rapid way to get the ball rolling.

7 Epic AI Fiction Book Writing Software Tools In 2024

4. Write in focused sessions

Ever get into a writing groove only to be pulled out by a notification, or worse, find yourself involuntarily scrolling through social media? Before you know it, an hour has passed, and you still only have the 100 words you had an hour ago.

If this tends to happen to you, working in focused sessions can be a real lifesaver. Using focus apps that set the timer, block distractions, or create a good environment for concentration can help you make the most of those time blocks you created in tip 1.

As you sit down to write, commit to doing nothing but writing for a dedicated period.

Some apps use techniques like the Pomodoro method to structure your writing time into intervals. The most common schedule is 25 minutes of writing followed by a 5-minute break.

Personally, I prefer 50 minutes of writing with a 10-minute break as this allows me to really get into that deep flow where my brain stops wandering and the thoughts start to pour. ( I use the Freedom app .)

5. Do exercises to improve your writing speed

When you hear “writing exercises,” you might think back to those tedious high school assignments. But this is different. Think of it more like warming up before a workout – it primes you for better performance.

Regularly doing speed writing exercises can significantly improve your writing stamina and speed. Whether it’s freewriting for 10 minutes (no editing allowed!) or practicing with typing software, the goal is to get you comfortable with putting thoughts to paper rapidly.

By consistently incorporating these exercises into your routine, you train your brain to churn out words more quickly, making it easier to meet your writing objectives in less time.

6. Leverage smart suggestions

You know that moment when you’re typing a sentence, and you pause to think of the best word to use next? It feels like every second is a drop in the bucket of lost productivity.

Text expanders and various tools that offer smart suggestions come to the rescue, helping you waste less time seeking the right word. These tools suggest word or phrase recommendations as you type, helping you complete sentences without losing momentum.

For instance, if you frequently write “best regards” at the end of emails, you can set up a shortcut that auto-fills this phrase whenever you type “brg.” Or use a text expander tool that will finish the sentence and even add the name after you type “best.” It’s a small trick that adds up to big time savings.

7. Listen to concentration music

Just as you sit down to write, your neighbor suddenly decides it’s the perfect time for a DIY project. Or maybe the chatter of people around you keeps interrupting your train of thought. Or maybe it’s just too quiet. Either way, you’re finding it hard to focus.

I used to struggle like this, too! Personally, I love writing in silence, and ALL external noises are distracting for me. Thankfully, none of these are the issue for me anymore since I started listening to science-backed focus music at Brain.fm !

They build soundtracks specifically designed to boost concentration, and they have actual studies that showcase the impressive difference in brain waves.

As I’m writing this, I’m listening to the track called “spectral transmission.” It’s an acoustic soundscape with a gentle neural effect that is meant for deep work.

I used to listen to Spotify and “work music” playlists on YouTube, but they didn’t do much other than block the noise. Brain.fm makes a real difference in my ability to focus.

8. Don’t strive for perfection

If you’re waiting for each sentence to be a masterpiece before you move on to the next, you’re setting yourself up for a long, long, loooooooong writing journey. It’s the quickest route to staring at your screen, paralyzed by indecision, and spending several extra hours on unnecessary polishing.

Instead, focus on getting your ideas down as quickly as possible. First drafts are supposed to be messy; that’s what revisions are for. So give yourself permission to write badly, and don’t let yourself perfect anything before you finish.

Once the words are out, you can always go back and make them beautiful!

If you are brave, there is this app called Squibler that pushes you to write non-stop. If you pause for too long, it will remove everything you wrote. This is an extreme way to prevent yourself from editing as you write. Try it if you dare!

9. Turn off the spell check

You’re in the zone, typing away, when suddenly that red squiggly line appears, signaling a typo. It’s tempting to go back and fix it right away, but that’s a trap! Doing so interrupts your flow and costs you valuable time.

Turn off your spell check while writing your first draft. It will allow you to focus solely on getting your ideas down without the distraction of correcting typos or grammatical errors. The time for polishing comes later.

I use Grammarly as my spelling and grammar-checking tool, but I make sure to turn the extension off when I’m writing the first draft. Those smart corrections mean well, but they disrupt my flow state more than they help, so I only turn them on for the editing phase.

20 Best Chrome Extensions For Productivity I Use In 2024

10. Leverage the power of accountability

No matter how self-disciplined you are, everyone can benefit from a little external accountability. You know how it’s easier to stick to a workout routine when you have a gym buddy? Writing can work the same way.

You can either find an accountability buddy in your inner circle, utilize accountability partner apps that match you with random partners online for a work session, or use a daily coaching service like GoalsWon to keep yourself on track.

Involving other people to hold you accountable is an incredibly powerful method to write faster and get your daily word count out as soon as possible. You’d be surprised how much faster you write when you know someone counts on you!

It’s after 9 pm right now, and I’m sitting here writing this article because I have a daily goal to check off in GoalsWon, and I don’t want to disappoint my coach Joel. Trust me, it works!

11. Outline first

Diving into a writing project without an outline is like going on a road trip without a map. Sure, you might reach your destination, but you’ll likely take a lot of unnecessary detours.

The lack of direction means that you might get too generous with words when it’s unnecessary and will need to cut a lot or do additional editing later.

It’s also easier for your reader when there is a defined structure, such as headings in an article or short chapters in a book.

So, before you start writing, create an outline. It doesn’t have to be super detailed – a few bullet points to guide each section can do the trick. Knowing the roadmap makes it easier to navigate from one point to the next without getting lost, saving you time in the long run.

12. Limit distracting websites

We all know the internet is a double-edged sword when it comes to writing. One minute you’re researching for your article and the next you’re down a YouTube rabbit hole.

By using productivity-oriented website blockers , you can limit access to distracting websites during your writing sessions. This helps maintain your focus so you get deeper in the flow, write faster, and use your time more efficiently.

For example, here is how a website looks when you try to access it during a focused session with Freedom :

And here is how it looks if you use RescueTime :

8 Best Social Feed Blockers To Stop Mindless Scrolling

13. Fight writer’s block

It happens to the best of us: one minute you are on a roll and the next, suddenly, you hit a wall. Writer’s block is not just frustrating; it’s a well-known productivity killer, and nobody is immune.

Thankfully, we live in a wonderful world of smart technology now! An AI personal assistant can offer a quick escape by helping you do research, finishing your sentences when you get stuck, or writing the first draft so you don’t have to stare at a blank page.

Just feed it a prompt with details on something you intend to write or your last couple of sentences, and let it generate some ideas for you. This will give your creative muscles a push in the right direction and get you back into the groove.

14. Train your brain to think faster

Sometimes, the bottleneck in writing isn’t your typing speed or your focus but how quickly you can generate ideas and solve problems.

Cognitive training exercises can help in this area. These are tasks designed to improve your memory, reasoning, and speed of information processing.

For example, Elevate and Luminosity are among the most popular online platforms that offer fun games to stimulate your brain for better performance.

Repetitively challenging your brain like that helps you build new neural connections and strengthen the areas of your brain (such as the prefrontal cortex) that are important for your creative work.

You can also learn more about brain training and how it can change your life in John Assaraf’s science-based book called Innercise .

Over time, brain training can help you become a faster and more efficient writer.

15. Leverage your most productive time

Everyone has that golden hour when they’re exceptionally productive. For some, it’s early morning; for others, it’s late at night.

Your energy is not distributed evenly during the day. It fluctuates based on a multitude of factors, but it usually has some kind of a pattern.

The goal is to identify your optimal hours and schedule your writing sessions during these times. Your brain will be at its peak performance, allowing you to write faster without feeling tired or experiencing brain fog.

16. Don’t waste time procrastinating

We’ve all been there – telling ourselves that we’ll write “when inspiration strikes” or after just “one more episode” of that addictive show. This delay tactic is nothing more than procrastination in disguise, and it eats away at the time you could spend writing.

The most effective way to avoid procrastination is to set specific times for your writing and stick to them. You can also take a critical look at your behavior and try to figure out what causes your procrastination so you can deal with it.

One of my favorite quotes that I have on my inspiration wall is this:

Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.

Don’t wait for inspiration; make writing a non-negotiable part of your routine. Before you know it, you’ll find that the simple act of sitting down to write the first sentence at the same time every day builds momentum, making the process a lot smoother and faster.

17. Set up a comfortable and productive workspace

Have you ever sat down to write and found yourself constantly adjusting your chair or getting distracted by random things on your cluttered desk?

Your environment has a significant impact on your productivity, and an uncomfortable or disorganized space can seriously derail your writing flow.

Invest time and maybe a bit of money in setting up a workspace that pushes you to focus. Whether it’s a cozy corner with a plush chair or a minimalist desk with just your computer, make it a place where you feel motivated to write.

The less distracted you are by your environment, the faster you’ll be able to get that target word count down!

18. Invest in good quality tools

You’re halfway through a sentence, and your keyboard misses a keystroke. Or you’re jotting down ideas, and your pen runs out of ink.

Sounds familiar? Faulty or subpar tools not only disrupt your writing but can also cause unnecessary stress and waste time.

Surprisingly, it’s proven that a better-quality keyboard or pen can literally help you write faster!

For example, watch this video by one of my favorite Youtubers Ali Abdaal where he compares the typing speed of different keyboards:

If you want a summary, the fastest keyword is Apple Magic Keyboard . In my opinion, it’s also the most aesthetically pleasing and compact (I’m not a fan of colorful and chunky tech), but to each their own.

19. Do all your research beforehand

There’s nothing like having to stop to look up a piece of information when you just picked up a good writing pace. Each interruption, no matter how minor, fractures your focus and extends your writing time.

Make it a habit to compile all the research you’ll need before you start writing. Whether you use traditional methods like note-taking or employ AI tools to gather information, having everything at your fingertips means you can write without unnecessary breaks.

If you are open to using software to streamline your writing, here are some resources I recommend:

• Sudowrite is an awesome app for fiction writers that can help you build a solid plot, write faster with autocomplete, suggest unique character names, etc.
• Content writers can leverage AI keyword research tools to create a content strategy based on topic clusters, competition analysis, and good keywords.
• Perplexity.ai is great for fact-checking and finding related studies or statistics to support your writing.

20. Track where your time goes

If you often find yourself wondering where the time went and why you managed to do so little in a whole workday, it might be wise to take a step back and review your work habits.

One way to do it is by using time-tracking tools like RescueTime that monitor your computer activity over time and offer insights into where your time is commonly lost.

Knowing where your time is going allows you to make conscious decisions about your writing habits. If you notice you’re spending too much time on non-essential activities, you can cut them out or at least timebox them and channel your energy into writing, which will inevitably make you faster.

RescueTime Review 2024: Can It Really Improve Productivity?

What is a good writing speed?

A good writing speed varies depending on the task at hand and your skill level. For typing, a speed of around 40-60 words per minute (WPM) is considered average, while 100+ WPM is seen as fast.

In a professional setting, particularly for writers and content creators, aiming for at least 60-80 WPM is beneficial for keeping up with deadlines and workload.

When it comes to handwriting, a speed of about 20-30 words per minute is typical for many people. However, if you’re taking exams or need to jot down notes quickly, striving for a handwriting speed of 30-40 words per minute can be an asset.

Handwriting speed is often a bit slower than typing due to the physical nature of the task.

Which factors affect your writing speed?

Various factors can influence how quickly you write, impacting both the quality and quantity of your output. These factors can range from your mental state to your physical environment.

Here are several things that affect your writing speed the most:

• Skill level: Proficiency in typing or handwriting will always be the most important factor. The more you practice anything, the better you get at it.
• Mental state: Focus, alertness, and stress levels all influence how many words you manage to get out of your head in a given time.
• Writing tools: The quality of your keyboard, pens, device, and software you use can all affect how fast you write.
• Helper tools: Using text expanders or AI writing assistants can save you hours per week when you get the hang of it.
• Environment: Physical workspace and external distractions contribute a lot to your ability to get into the flow.
• Time management: The ability to allocate focused time for writing and identify your most efficient hours in a day are both game-changers for writer’s productivity.
• Task complexity: The complexity of the topic or assignment is also a factor that affects your writing speed. How well you know the subject is another thing that can either slow you down or write the whole thing in turbo mode.

How to physically write faster

Improving your handwriting speed is particularly useful for students who take handwritten exams or professionals who need to jot down information quickly.

Start by identifying a comfortable yet efficient grip on your writing tool, as an improper grip can slow you down or make your hand fatigued quickly.

From my experience, ball pens are a little faster than gel or fountain pens.

One of the best ways to physically write faster is through consistent practice. Consider doing speed writing exercises where you copy paragraphs from books or articles within a set time frame. Gradually increase the complexity and length of the text to challenge yourself.

Wrapping up

Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and improving your writing speed will require some practice or getting used to the new tools.

I shared with you the hacks I myself use to be an efficient writer. Pick a handful of these tips that make the most sense to you and start implementing them today!

Juliet is an AI strategist for digital businesses and a content creator herself. With MS in Computer Science and a decade of hands-on experience in tech and marketing, she shares her best tips for leveraging AI tools to grow and scale your brand.

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When You Write

How to Write Faster: 23 Tips to Speed Up Your Writing Output

As a writer, you already know the essence of learning how to write faster and putting out more writing work.

You hear other writers talk about “I average 7k words per day” or “my weekly output is roughly 20k.”

But your fiction has been lingering around chapter one for months… What are you doing wrong? 

I cannot diagnose your problem, but I will give you some tips that you can use to perform a self-diagnosis and increase your writing speed.

Writing Is a Game of Numbers

For 21st-century freelance writers, novelists, or any other professional writer, quality matters. But without quantity, you are just going to lumber in the abyss of the world wide web libraries. 

Writing is a game of numbers – the more you put out, the more you get noticed. Likewise, the more gigs you complete, the more money you get.

It’s as simple as ABC.

The faster you write, the faster the ‘cha-ching’ comes in. So once you learn how to write fast, you can get more work done in a shorter time and probably earn more.

So, writing-faster hacks are essential life hacks for any serious writer.

23 Tips To Writing Faster (And Better)

Out of the 23 tips, 1 and 2 are the most essential. That is why I have given them more meat than all the rest.

1. Learn How to Increase Your Handwriting Speed

Almost everyone learns the art of handwriting at a very young age, but we tend to forget this important skill as we grow older. This trend has been exacerbated by the more convenient computers and mobile phones.

With the dawn of the Age of Ultron digital age, handwriting has become an even more obscure skill.

However, handwriting speed is still essential for people who take notes using pen and paper (students, for example). 

There are a couple of benefits of increased handwriting,

• Better performance. You take better handwritten notes and save time in an exam.
• Increased Automaticity. This means that your brain will have to burden itself with other important intellectual stuff rather than the physical movements of your hand.
• Less writing gaffes. We often commit errors because we think faster than we write. But if the writing pace catches up, there will be fewer errors.

Handwriting Speed Tips 

Use Better Writing Tools: The type of pens you use affects your writing speed. Your ballpoint pens don’t rank in the speed ratings. You’d be better off having a fountain pen, a roller pen, or a gel pen.

Learn or Develop a Shorthand System: Instead of using bulky words, why not try symbols or abbreviations. There are no limits, so you can develop your own shorthand writing system or learn pre-existing ones like (Pitman, Gregg, Teeline).

Be Comfortable: Somebody might have shown you the ‘best way’ to hold a pen, you tried it, and it didn’t feel comfortable at all. Don’t force it, it’ll just slow you down.

Always hold the pen in a way that feels comfortable. The way you hold a pen doesn’t really affect writing speed, but if you are comfortable, your pace might improve.

Maintain a Good Posture: Writing is laborious; not only does it stress your fingers, but your spine also gets a beating too.

There are ergonomic kneeling and upright sitting office chairs which help you to improve your sitting posture. The chairs should be complemented by your own efforts. 

• Your feet should lie flat on the floor.
• Your knees should be at a 90-degree angle.
• The lower back should be supported by the chair.

2. Learn to Type Fast

The idea is that every finger should have its place on the keyboard. To help the fingers get used to ‘their’ position on the keyboard, you have to type without looking at the keyboard. 

Home Row Finger Placement: place four fingers (from your index finger to the pinkie) on the ASDF and JKL. The keys are in the center row of the letter keys, also called the HOME ROW.

When you are typing, you should always start and return to the “ASDF – JKL” letters (that’s why they are called the middle row and are called the home row). The letters ‘F’ and ‘J’ have little ridges for your fingers to sense the initial position by groping the keys. 

Your thumbs should always hover around the space bar, and the SHIFT key should be assigned to the pinkie opposite to the hand that is pressing the other key.

Good Sitting Posture for Typing

I also covered this when I wrote about ergonomic office chairs . But let me just hash over a couple of important tips:

• The top of your screen must be level with your head.
• Relieve the pressure in your shoulders, arms, and wrists. You can invest in a keyboard with a wrist rest so that your body weight isn’t shifted to your wrists. 
• Sit straight.
• Keep a good distance between your eyes and the computer screen (at least 40cm).
• Keep the elbows bent at a 90-degree angle.
• DON’T SLOUCH.

3. Write Rhubarb, Edit Later

Hi writer, no one is going to see your very first draft: nobody but you. 

When you start writing, all you need to do is pour raw thoughts. Forget the typos and coherence; none of that matters, for now.

Editing is actually the most arduous step of writing. That is because we tend to rewrite a lot of the initial stuff and pay a lot more attention to detail. Have you ever written a whole page only to come back and erase it because it is pure garbage?

So just focus on putting words to paper and leave the corrections to the other you, the editing you.

4. Follow the Cliché 

“Practice makes perfect.”

This is the most overused cliché and… the most accurate. You have to write every day. Do not force the writing speed. As long as you are applying the proper techniques and writing consistently, you will get better. 

5. Write the Intro at the End

Writing the introduction earlier than the main body will slow you down nine out of ten times. The introductory paragraphs (in some cases, an abstract) give a taste of the juice contained in the main body of your work. Writing this part first usually means setting unnecessary standards for yourself. 

The introduction will always mess up your head, trying to align your content with the introduction. 

But if you start with the main body, you will probably write faster and use the content to create an abstract afterward.

Introductions and abstracts write themselves.

6. Gather Information Before You Start Writing

Doing research is a vital part of writing. Literal work (especially academic) with unverifiable content exposes the writer’s knowledge gaps and stinks of unprofessionalism.

However, researching while writing is counterproductive. You spend huge chunks of time on the web or bookshelves instead of writing. And sometimes, you are ready to write again, only to find out that all the creative juices have dried up.

Google your stuff beforehand, scour the bookshelves and take notes and pictures before the actual writing begins. When you sit down to write, you should WRITE.

Another cliché, “failing to plan is planning to?”

Freestyling is good because you just hop around and before you know it, you have 25k words. But, setting an outline helps you save time thinking about what to do next.

Write an outline, then freestyle inside the outlined topics. You can jump from the first topic to the last, then back to a middle section.  

8. Set challenges

Challenging oneself is one of the greatest traits of successful people in any field. Most professionals, likely you too, work well with deadlines.

Give yourself word counts and deadlines. It may seem like a simple overused old hack, but when you start employing this technique you will realize that whatever the circumstance, failing feels bad.

You will zealously want to beat your deadlines.

9. Fragment Your Work 

Writing a book may seem like a tough thing to do (that’s because it is). But if you break the book into chapters or scenes and work on them one by one, the workload seems a whole lot lighter. 

As a matter of fact, Mark Twain did say something just like this, he said, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one”.

10. Play Typing Games

Thanks to apps and websites, learning to type faster has become fun. Nowadays, there are a squillion web-based or offline games, tests, and YouTube tutorials. 

Websites like WordGames.Com and Typing.com provide typing games and challenges which can help you improve your typing speed.

11. Go blind and Invent 

You can do your research beforehand or completely write from your head. This is usually effective for fiction writers. Create worlds, words, names, cities, et cetera.

There’s a writing technique that I call “Blitzkrieg Freestyle Writing.” It’s something similar to the “write rhubarb, edit later” style, just that with blitzkrieg freestyle writing, you can include some nonexistent stuff and create your own stuff that can even make it past the final draft.

After setting up a few things beforehand, jump onto the chair and wing it! Just blitz through the pages without pressing backspace, googling, or verifying.

12. Ignore the Schedule (Sometimes)

Creativity is spontaneous, and sparks of genius usually occur sporadically. If you are writing a scheduled article but the words aren’t coming, it’s better to disregard your schedule and look at something different.

It might be another article or your poems from five years ago. You need to be concerned with the magic, not the time frame. 

Word of caution; do not mistake the “spontaneous creativity” that I’m talking about with that mischievous demon of procrastination.

13. Find Your Optimal Writing Times

The ‘night owls versus early risers’ thing isn’t genetic, you are not born to be a night owl or somebody that wakes early every morning. 

Our bodies have a reprogrammable biological clock. If you keep late nights a lot, your body readjusts and you start to notice that instead of feeling sleepy in the after-hours, your eyelids usually give up in the wee hours of the morning.

The issue here is not trying to program the clock but understanding it (although it’s okay if you want to). You must observe what time(s) of the day you’re most active. It’s during those hours that you’ll write faster, and the content will be of better quality.

14. Always Stop Writing Mid-Sentence  

This might seem counterintuitive at first; why would I stop writing mid-sentence? When my flow is so on point? So undue.

However, when you stop writing in the middle of an exciting, fully developed (in your head) plot, you exactly know what to write when you resume writing.

When you go back to write, you know where to pick from. It’s vroom vroom from the first keystroke, your phalanges going Luis Hamilton fast. 

15.  Set a timer

Just like the previous method, this seems counterintuitive too. Imagine blitzing through a paragraph, then the alarm rings. 

I know, I know, it seems inconvenient but, there are a lot of hidden benefits.

Taking breaks after the clock runs down also helps you refresh the brain and stretch your body. A fresher brain means more productivity, and since you are probably going to stop writing mid-sentence, you will have a lot of content already thought out (hence faster writing), and you save yourself a world of pain and stress. 

Sometimes the timer helps you pace up so that you can write a lot of stuff in the short given time.

16. Use The Pomodoro technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management scheme that helps people to effectively use time to their advantage when working. 

This is similar to the previous hack (you obviously use a timer), but unlike the former, it has preset time margins.

It’s a simple system, you have 25-minute focused work sessions followed by five-minute breaks. The breaks are what are called Pomodoros. After four Pomodoros, the break should be longer (about 20 minutes).

Just like the normal timer setting, you get the benefits of stopping mid-sentence, plus you save energy.

17. Schedule Undisturbed Writing Time or Just Hang a Sign.

For me, it is hard to hang a sign and expect that the other ‘creatures’ in the house will observe the new rules.

No no no no. Nope!

I live with toughies, and it’s almost impossible to tell them what not to do. My solution? Doing my writing when they’ve exhausted all their energy.

At night, the guys turn to sloths. That’s when I attack my keyboard with zero distractions. However, putting up a “don’t disturb sign” usually works, especially in a professional environment.

18. Start from Anywhere

When you are writing a book, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to think that you MUST write it chapter by chapter, chronologically.

You might start off quite brilliantly, but you will — 9 out 10 times—get stuck somewhere before you even the first chapter.

Start from wherever content seems to flow seamlessly. After a while, some other parts will start revealing themselves.

19. Write drunk, edit sober

I first saw this advice on a certain blog, and I said to myself, “this is rubbish, these people just write things just to fill up articles.”

But I found out, from my writer circles, that this actually works for a lot of writers. Apparently, a hard drink (a gentleman’s quantity) can spur creativity since it snaps some wires in the head. However, you should expect some content to be utter rubbish, so you’ll have to follow the “write Rhubarb, edit later” hack.

20. Get a Journal

Not only will a journal help you increase your handwriting speed (because you will be writing frequently), it will also help you save your ideas. You can use the ideas later, reducing the time you spend on brainstorming during a writing session.

You can also use the journal to create characters or write some rhubarb to be edited later.

21. Switch Your Perspective

Looking at a writing project just in terms of the word count and workload is demotivating. Somehow, the word count always seems like a mountain to climb.

And hiking isn’t for everyone. Ha-ha.

But seriously, you have to switch the perspective and start looking at a blinking cursor as a metronome, your chance to write creative stuff that will wow millions – Your chance to shine. 

22. Go Incommunicado 

The digital space is full of distractions; Facebook, Insta, Twitter, Pinterest, a movie perhaps.

Your computer or mobile phone can be both your ally and foe when you have some content to write. 

One minute, you want to see your Facebook inbox and an hour letter you’re pinning stuff on Pinterest. A few days later and you still haven’t started typing that chapter.

Shut it off!

But if you use the computer for writing, then shutting it off is equally counterproductive. You have to have software that turns your computer into a digital offline typewriter.

There is a lot of software that will block all the background distractions, i.e., FocusWriter , Typora , Mark text , and Ommwriter .  

23. Use Squiggly Line Reminders

Sometimes, your typing speed isn’t the problem. Sometimes, it is those missing words in your head.

You can blitz your way through a chapter only to get stuck explaining what kind of dress ‘Daisy’ wore. Then you go on the web and start scouring for dresses and fashion trends, and before you know it, you’ve spent a whole hour looking for a “dress.”

Many word processors use red squiggly lines to tell you that you’ve made a mistake. Using misspelled words or symbols when you get stuck helps you put markers to which you can come back to make corrections or fill with text.  

Final Words 

Experiment, the tips are not a “one shoe fits all” type of solution. Trial and error won’t hurt.

And… one more cliché. 

“If you want to be successful, you should do what you love.”

Make writing a top priority, a full-time thing. You’ll discover a lot of writing hacks on your own. Some things just come naturally.

Note: You cannot do all of them simultaneously. While some will work for you, others won’t make any sense at all. You just have to mix and match and see what works best for you.

Recommended Reading...

Best music for writing – be more focused and productive, what is the iceberg theory, why do authors use pen names, how to stay focused while writing.

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Last updated on Apr 21, 2022

How to Write Faster: 8 Strategies for Productivity

Slow writing is a challenge that every author faces — one that can be particularly frustrating to tackle. So, if you want to save time, publish more books, or simply finish your project, here are eight tricks and strategies for writing faster:

1. Minimize distractions

2. do word sprints, 3. try the pomodoro technique, 4. set small goals and rewards, 5. use placeholders, 6. write without looking at the screen, 7. use speech-to-text dictation, 8. visualize the scene before writing it.

Writing requires focus, so find a distraction-free environment that works for you . For some people that means leaving the house and writing from coffee shops or libraries, while for others it comes down to curating their perfect writing environment . 

The internet, of course, is one of the biggest challenges in terms of distraction. To protect yourself from being pulled away from your novel, leave your phone in another room and set specific hours to surf online (i.e. from 7 to 8 in the morning/evening). If you need the Internet for research, you can always use apps like Self-Control or Cold Turkey to block specific websites during your golden hours ( adiós , Twitter rabbit holes!) 

Put on some noise-canceling headphones or your favorite writing playlist, open up your writing software and get in the zone. 

Tell us about your book, and we'll give you a writing playlist

It'll only take a minute!

Ever heard of word sprints? Just like a sprint race, the idea behind it is to write as much as possible, as quickly as possible. Try a 10-minute session at first, then push yourself to “sprint” for longer if you find that it successfully opens your creative floodgates. Who knows, maybe you’ll even write a novel in 30 days at the next NaNoWriMo !

This strategy is ideal for those who struggle to find long stretches of time to write during the day. A 15-minute word sprint in the morning and another in the evening will see you making substantial progress with your book. 

You can pair up with a friend or someone from an online writing community to provide accountability and boost each others’ productivity. For example, you could do simultaneous word sprints and before reporting back on your respective word counts. Try to set a friendly-yet-determined tone — while you don’t want to feel combative, you do want to have a sense of urgency around writing.

The Pomodoro Technique is a time-management method that can be used to write more productively. The rules are simple: write uninterrupted for 25 minutes, then take a break of 5 - 10 minutes. One session equals one pomodoro (Italian for tomato , a reference to old tomato-shaped kitchen timers). After four 25-minutes writing sessions, you can take a longer break of 20 to 30 minutes. Then rinse and repeat. 

It’s a simple technique to make yourself accountable and find a workflow. And don’t worry, you don’t need a kitchen timer to track your time: there are plenty of apps and websites that will do it for you. 

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Many writers make the mistake of only rewarding themselves when they finish their manuscript. However, creating a book is a long and exacting process, and if the reward seems to be too far away, you may not be as motivated to write. 

Research shows that, in order to pursue long-term goals, we need to set smaller, achievable writing goals for ourselves. Every time we succeed in achieving a goal, no matter how small, the brain rewards us with dopamine and motivation to keep going (even with an ADHD brain ). 

As an author, that means creating a system of smaller goals and rewards for your daily writing sessions. For example, if you write 300 words in a day, you get to watch an episode of whatever show you're in the middle of. If you do it for six days in a row, you buy yourself a new book. When you finish a whole chapter, treat yourself to a nice dinner out! 

Having a short-term finish line and trophy within reaching distance will help you to write more and, eventually, finish your book .   

To better visualize your progress, you can use our Reedsy Book Editor , a free writing app that will automatically calculate and display your daily word count. You can also set friendly email reminders that nudge you to write in case you fall back on your set goals. 

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Sometimes authors write slowly because they encounter a scene or paragraph that they don't know how to write, or that requires further research. It’s easy to struggle and tinker with these parts forever, never making real progress. 

Have you ever spent 20 minutes digging through a thesaurus, trying to find the perfect word before it escapes from the tip of your tongue? You feel that a breakthrough is right around the corner but, if you’re honest with yourself, it will elude you. 

When you are stuck with a word or a scene, you can temporarily bypass it by putting a placeholder to remind you to revisit it later. A common trick is to use the capital letters TK (an intentional misspelling of “to come”). Since this letter combination doesn't appear very often in the English language, it's easy to search it in the document when you want to edit it, and it won’t be confused for part of the final copy. 

Sometimes the biggest source of distraction is your own words on the screen! There’s no greater productivity killer when writing than stopping to edit. That’s why the process of editing your book should always come at a later phase. 

To calm the impulse to continuously edit, try writing without looking at the screen. A couple of tricks you can use are typing with a wireless keyboard from the other side of the room, or turning the brightness on your laptop all the way down.

It can be weird to not see the words you’re typing, but it can truly make a difference in speed, especially when combined with techniques like the word sprint! 

How to Write a Novel

Author and ghostwriter Tom Bromley will guide you from page 1 to the finish line.

Most of us think faster than we type, and many writers aren’t the most proficient typists, to begin with. If this is a problem for you, consider using the speech-to-text function to dictate your manuscript. This option is offered by word processors like Microsoft Word and Google Docs, as well as services like Descript, Otter.ai, and Dragon Professional. 

Dictating your novel will require a big edit to polish your first draft, but it might help you capture a scene more naturally than if you were to type it. Give it a try and you may end up a speech-to-text convert, too… especially when you see how much faster it helps you write.

One of the reasons writers experience writer's block is because they try to think through a scene while also writing it, which can break their creative flow. If this sounds like you, try visualizing a passage in your head for a few minutes before you jot it down. 

Think through the scene like it's a movie playing in your head: imagine the characters' sensory experiences, thought processes, and dialogue . Once the narration is clear in your head, put it into words. Not only will you write faster, but also with greater excitement about the story itself!

These individual techniques will all help you write faster, but combining them together will give you true superpowers. Next time you're stuck, try a couple of them out and you may just find yourself finishing your book faster than you think!

2 responses

batmansbestfriend says:

10/12/2019 – 14:03

I always find that if I have enough caffeine over the course of the day I can usually hit my daily quota in about half or a third of the time...and the quality is usually slightly better (in terms of having to do less rewriting). However, this only works if I've gone over the scene in my head enough that I feel like I've personally lived it. So, the take away is: know what you're going to write before you write it and you'll have that much of an easier time.

Anne Hagan says:

14/02/2020 – 16:11

I like numbers ten and eleven a lot. I've never given a thought to doing something like #10, writing like a child, but I use #11 all of the time. I start with a detailed outline. If I'm not 'feeling' the next scene, I move on to something that does move me - usually a dialog heavy scene. Often I can go back to the troublesome scene later and work it out or I eliminate as unnecessary to begin with.

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5 Tips for Improving Your Essay-Writing Speed (With Help from Bilbo Baggins)

What do most students have in common with Bilbo Baggins? Besides enjoying at least six meals a day, the trait most students share with our favorite hobbit is the desperate need they sometimes have for more time. Time is what Bilbo begs for when he can’t solve Gollum’s riddle (right), the answer to the riddle being—of course—none other than time itself.

Sure, in the scene above, Bilbo is at serious risk of being eaten by Gollum, while most students just have a lot of reading and essay writing to do. Still, time is the important thing here, and it seems that neither students nor “hobbitses” (as Gollum would say) can ever get enough of it. If only there were some way to make writing an essay a faster process . . .

The bad news? I can’t get you more time. Not even Gandalf can manage that, and I’m certainly no Gandalf. But what I can actually do is teach you how to use less time to accomplish more when you’re writing an essay, which is pretty much exactly the same thing! So, if you’re feeling well fed and ready to learn, prepare yourself for an unexpected journey into the art of writing an essay as efficiently as possible.

Step 1: Make a plan.

Imagine that you’re going on a trip. Perhaps you’re even traveling to the Lonely Mountain to face a very vain dragon in hopes of reclaiming some treasure. Now, how would you rather make that journey: with a map or without one? I think we can both agree that using the map would save you quite a lot of time that would otherwise be spent wandering—right?

Just like any adventurous Took, you shouldn’t try to start writing an essay without first creating a map for yourself. Yes, it takes time to write an outline. However, this is time that you will more than make up later in the writing process and that will ultimately improve your essay-writing speed.

The key elements to have figured out before you begin writing are your thesis statement and the evidence and arguments you will be using to support that thesis statement. Once you have these things, you basically have a road map to your final destination: completion of your essay.

Step 2: Do your research.

This step should really be done in conjunction with the former step. After all, what’s the point of writing a thesis if you can’t support it with research? Your research, including direct quotations from primary sources, should be part of your outline. Finding quotations from scholarly articles and books to support your arguments before you actually start writing will make the actual process of writing much faster, as you will have fewer necessary interruptions. (No, Facebook is not a necessary interruption—nor is a second breakfast. Sorry.)

Step 3: Just write.

Okay. Your map is written, you’re out of your hobbit-hole door and into the world, and you’re ready to actually start writing an essay. You still want to know how to write faster? Well, friend, the key is to start by actually writing . Not agonizing over every clause, not questioning all life decisions made thus far, and certainly not watching Netflix. Just write. Try your best to communicate the ideas you’ve painstakingly outlined in your map, but most of all, just get those fingers typing and start writing. Write . There will be some clunky sentences, there will be some punctuation errors, and there may even be some paragraphs that don’t make the final cut. However, if you don’t start writing soon, there won’t be anything to cut, and then you’ll really want to know how to write faster.

Step 4: Tackle your essay in sections.

Of course, as good as the “just write” mentality is, it can only keep you going for so long. Writing an essay in one big chunk is like trying to travel from the Shire to the Lonely Mountain in a single day; that is to say, it is downright impossible without the aid of some kind of anachronistic aircraft, and very dangerous to even try doing. Instead of doing everything at once, think of your essay in terms of meaningful sections. Focus on completing just one section at a time, and give yourself time for short breaks between writing sessions. Dinner with dwarves, break. Meeting with Elrond, break. Goblin kidnapping, break. You get the idea!

Step 5: Take a break before editing your work.

Make sure that you give yourself some time away from your essay before returning to revise your first draft. Editing your essay with a fresh mind will make the process much quicker, as mistakes you made while writing will be much more obvious to your eye and to your well-rested brain. While it’s true that the time period needed to complete your essay will be longer, the amount of time you will actually have spent on your essay will be much, much shorter, leaving you lots of time to work on other things!

There you have it, folks: five ways to improve your essay-writing speed. You now know how to write faster—or, you know, how to complete an essay using less time overall. This more efficient method of writing an essay should give you more time to accomplish other important things, like rereading your favorite stories (cough—Tolkien!), working on your riddle-solving abilities, and perfecting your Gollum impersonation—all pursuits worthy of your extra time and devotion.

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Home / Book Writing / Learn How to Write Faster [26 Tips for Writers]

Learn How to Write Faster [26 Tips for Writers]

If you want to write more books , blog posts, or papers, writing faster is the key to unlock your goals. However, there is much more to it than just learning how to type faster. Instead of just typing skills, to become a successful writer, you need to position yourself for success, and arrange your schedule and surroundings so that you can become more efficient with your limited time.

Basically, it's not just about being a faster writer, it's also about making sure you get the most out of the time you have, or using tools like AI to enhance your creativity.

Therefore, to help you put yourself in the best position to become a faster writer and create better content, I've created this full list of of steps that can truly make a difference in your writing output.

• How to write faster and better (12 tips and tricks)
• Common writing myths to overcome
• The secret to using the Pomodoro Method
• How to be consistent and stay motivated

Now, while I wrote these tips specifically with authors in mind, much of it also applies to writing a great blog post or full-time students free writing an essay that was due yesterday. What are the best tips for how to write faster? Below, I’ve compiled the 23 best tips and tricks to help you write faster (and better):

• Use the tools available (even AI)
• Schedule undisturbed writing time
• Get in the “write” meditation mindset
• Choose the right music or noise blocking
• Remain consistent
• Write the first line
• Use the Pomodoro Technique
• Turn off the red squiggly line
• Brainstorm with ChatGPT
• Know your genre
• Outline your story
• Experiment with dictation software
• Silence your inner editor
• Insert placeholder text
• Reward yourself
• Use focus apps
• Break through writer's block with AI
• Set purposeful goals
• Set deadlines
• Have a marathon day
• Participate in NaNoWriMo
• Find an accountability partner
• Outsource non-essential tasks
• Maintain your health

I've put together a list of prompts that you can use for just that purpose!

Check them out here: Get the PDF Here

In today’s self-publishing landscape, authors who publish more frequently get more visibility. However, you don’t have to write a bajillion words an hour to be a successful author. There are plenty of authors who write a book a year (or fewer) and do just fine. It all depends on your personal goals. What are some things that might slow down your writing speed?

• Bad keyboard
• Slow computer
• Daily stresses
• Social media
• Netflix, YouTube , etc.
• Music with lyrics
• Lack of an outline
• Not setting goals
• Editing while you write
• An inconsistent writing schedule

What is a good writing speed? A good writing speed depends on the individual, but most consider 60-80 words per minute (wpm) to be a good writing speed for professional authors. 40 wpm is average. Plus, most professional writers try to write at least 600-1,000 words each day, no matter how many hours.

Of course, that can change a lot depending on whether you use dictation or AI.

If you'd like to test yourself to see your score, you can try it here .

Table of contents

• 1. Use the Tools Available To You (Even AI)
• 2. Schedule Undisturbed Writing Time
• 3. Get In the “Write” Meditation Mindset
• 4. Choose the Right Music or Noise Blocker
• 5. Remain Consistent
• 6. Write the First Line
• 7. Use the Pomodoro Technique
• 8. Turn Off The Squiggly Red Line
• 9. Brainstorm With a Tool Like ChatGPT
• 10. Know Your Genre
• 11. Outline Your Story
• 12. Experiment with Dictation Software
• 13. Silence Your Inner Editor
• 14. Insert Placeholder Text
• Candies, Clothes, and Books, Oh My!
• The “Cross It Out” Method
• 16. Use Focus Apps
• 17. Break Through Writer's Block with AI
• 18. Set Purposeful Goals
• 19. Set Deadlines

20. Have a “Marathon” Day

• 21. Participate in NaNoWriMo
• 22. Find an Accountability Partner
• 23. Outsource Non-essential Tasks
• 24. Freewrite
• 25. Maintain Your Health
• 26. Use Special AI Software

Links in this article may give me a small commission if you use them to purchase a product. There’s no extra cost to you!

Why Am I Qualified to Talk about Writing Faster?

So there are a lot of articles out there that were clearly just parroting what other writers have said on the subject and just regurgitating all of it.

I personally hate those kind of articles. And I'm trying to do things differently.

So who am I to talk about writing fast? Well, I've been publishing books for over 13 years, and have learned a lot from multiple authors. I've tried out many of their techniques, and while some have worked for me, others haven't.

So by combining my own experience, along with surveys I've sent out to authors in the Kindlepreneur community, as well as hitting up a few high-profile authors that I've consulted with, here are the tips that I believe make the most difference…

Gone are the days when authors would write out their books by hand before handing the manuscript to the publisher who would assemble the words in typeset for printing.

We now, thankfully, have a lot more tools at our disposal.

First, it was the typewriter, then it was the personal computer (which hard-core typewriter authors thought was ‘lazy', by the way).

Today, we have dictation, advanced spell checkers, and, yes…even generative AI.

Now, I know there's a small subset of authors who have issues with AI. That's absolutely fine. AI certainly has it's controversies, but there's one thing I'm fairly certain about: it's not going away, and it's only going to get smarter.

So if it isn't going away, what then?

Well, I'm not a huge fan of using AI to write a whole novel, and I'm fairly certain that, at least for now, entirely AI-written books can't hold a candle to human-written books.

But that said, AI is useful in other ways.

For example, I've found it to be phenomenal at brainstorming, as well as performing minor tasks that I don't particularly care for, like book descriptions or social media posts.

And it can even help with things like creating a story Bible ( Claude is a good model for this), or helping you plan out your book launch.

And I've heard from many authors already that AI is helping them to push past writer's block , burnout , and a lot more.

So with that in mind, I actually do recommend that authors at least experiment with AI and other tools that can potentially increase your productivity. See where they might be able to help you in your business. Because all of us have aspects of writing or marketing that we don't much care for. I say, let AI take care of those things, leaving you with more time to focus on the aspects of writing that you like the most .

Many authors just starting out still have day jobs and families. Or pets. Or social obligations. All of these take a lot of time. Basically, life gets in the way. To write efficiently with all of this, you need to schedule undisturbed writing time with no distractions. During this writing time, stick to the following rules so you can write faster:

• Turn the Wi-Fi off if possible.
• Turn off your phone, or set it to Airplane Mode.
• Don’t check email.
• Don’t you dare get on social media.
• Don’t eat. Schedule your writing time around your meals, not during them.
• Don't get up to go to the bathroom. Relieve yourself right before you write.
• Look to schedule a writing sprint within your time.

There’s always more time in the day. The trick is finding it and using it effectively for your writing. Myth: “You have to lose sleep to find time to write.” No, please do not deprive yourself of sleep. There are all sorts of health problems associated with even a little sleep deprivation. There are other parts of your day to schedule undisturbed writing time. It can be an hour a day, an hour a week, or even 5 hours every Saturday. Find that perfect slot of time and mark it as your writing time. Set the alarm on your phone or your Google Calendar. When the alarm goes off, stick to that schedule. Know thyself. If you’re a night owl, don’t feel obligated to schedule a 5 AM writing time — that’s not a writing habit you’re going to keep. If you’re too exhausted after work every day, schedule your writing time on the weekend. If you’re full-up on the weekend, do it after work.

At the beginning of your undisturbed writing time, you need to get in the “write” mindset. (Sorry, I had to.) This doesn’t just mean cutting out distractions. This is visualizing, meditating, and relaxing. “Get Zen, Then Pen.” Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and visualize the scene you’re about to write. Do this for 2-3 minutes, keeping your breathing calm and steady. This uncluttered the brain of all the daily stresses you experience in your non-writer life.

Myth: “Thinking about writing is a waste of time.” Thinking about writing makes the actual writing process go faster and can improve the plot and prose. Thinking about writing may include meditation, brainstorming, or simply daydreaming. Don’t spend too long meditating. Your goal is to write faster, not to waste all your designated writing time on glorified napping. But getting in the right mindset can prevent writer’s block, optimize your writing speed, even improve your prose. Check out this writer’s meditation guide for more info.

Another excellent way to helping you get in the writer zone is listening to the right kind of music. While some authors have a specific type of music they prefer, it is recommended that the best way to get in the zone is to choose music that doesn't have lyrics in it. This helps to keep your brain focuses and ensures your brain isn't processing two sets of words (those in the music, and those you are trying to write).

You can listen to classical upbeat music, white noise, rain sounds, beach sounds and even synthesized music.

A while ago, I purchased a lifetime subscription to Brain.fm when it was first offered (super awesome pickup). It's a system that has scientifically backed technology that increases brain waves through synthetic noise/sounds. You can choose sounds that will put you in a productive mood, or to relax. While this is incredible, it now costs $6.99. But definitely something to try.

If you're looking for free music options though, one of the best sources for this is on YouTube. There are a lot of YouTubers who have created their own list of songs. Here is a list of compilations that you should definitely check out:

• Epic Music – my personal favorite since 2012
• White Noise
• Beach Sounds
• Best Classical Music for Writing
• Compilation of Music for Writers
• Increase focus sound waves for concentration – Alpha Waves

Or, if you can think of something that jives with your vibe, just go to YouTube, and search something like “ambiance” with a word like “rain,” “beach,” or even “Lord of the Rings,” and you’ll stumble across a wealth of options to try.

To start writing faster and more efficiently, a writer needs to remain consistent. Keep to your writing schedule. Keep to your daily word count goals . Keep to your long-term goals. Myth: “I just can’t find the time to write.” There is always time in the day. You just have to find it. Don’t lose sleep, don’t starve yourself, and don’t ruin relationships. But there is time to write. To quote Stephen King: “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” To write faster, you need to just get up and go to work. Just do it. Consistently.

You can follow every tip and trick on the Internet, but you won’t see results if you’re not consistent. Consistency is a habit. It’s setting aside a time of day — it doesn’t have to be every day — where you write and do nothing else. It's working towards your goal when you don't feel like it. It’s recognizing that you’re the one in control, that only you can write faster to meet and exceed your personal goals. Writing fast, like a jumble of words every hour doesn’t automatically equal success. However, writing as much as possible will improve your writing and help you meet your goals and targets, including writing faster and publishing more books. How can I improve my writing speed? You can improve your writing speed by setting a writing schedule and keeping to it consistently. The longer you remain consistent, the better your writing speed (and writing skills in general) will be.

Come up with the first line of each scene before you pen the rest. This first line should serve as a hook to draw the reader in and make them want to read the rest right away. Writing that first line can unlock your creativity and inspire you to write more of the chapter you’re working on. It’s a great way to “destroy the blank page.” Alternatively, you can write the first line and leave that chapter/scene for later. Writing one sentence or paragraph is not so daunting. Writing a chapter or scene based on a sentence you already wrote yesterday is also not less intimidating. Ernest Hemingway believed you should stop writing right when you’re on a roll when your writing is at its most engaging. Sounds crazy, but it’s a great mind hack. This way, you’ll be dying to write the next bit. Myth: “I need to start at the beginning of the scene to explain everything.” In media res means into the midst of things. That’s how you always need to start each scene: in the middle. The stakes are higher, there’s a little mystery as to how the characters got here, and writers never need to explain everything to their readers. Check out this article on How to Start a Story that Hooks Readers Right Away or this First Line Generator .

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management technique developed in the 80s. It is a great productivity tool for writers who want to write faster. Step-by-step instructions on how to use the Pomodoro Technique to write faster:

• Cut out all distractions, and decide on a task to complete.
• Set a timer for 25 minutes. Though this is the traditional amount of time, you can adjust it to however long you wish.
• Write for the full 25 minutes. Do not stop for anything — not for coffee, not for typos. Do not backspace. Just write the scene.
• Beep! Well done. Document how many words you wrote during each 25-minute writing session (called the Pomodoro). Aim beat your previous word count and write faster for each Pomodoro.
• At the end of 25 minutes, you get to take a 5-minute break. Do whatever you want for those 5 glorious minutes.
• After your short break, return to step 2. Unless it’s been more than 2 hours since you began, in which case go to step 7.
• After repeating this cycle for 2 hours, take a 15- to 30-minute break. Return to step 2.

Fun fact: “Pomodoro” is the Italian word for “tomato.” The Pomodoro Technique is named after the little tomato-shaped kitchen timers so popular in the 1980s. Do you struggle with ADHD as a writer? A Pomodoro is a popular technique for inducing artificial deadlines to help people with ADHD or other attention issues focus on a task.

Even though proofreading is essential, save it for the editing phase. While you’re writing, turn off the squiggly red line. This will help you write faster because you will spend less time getting distracted by clicking “Add to Dictionary” or falling down the rabbit hole looking up the etymology of a specific word. Spelling and grammar checkers are life savers, but they are also great at pulling you out of writing. Even a few seconds of clicking can derail your writing flow. Myth: “The software I use can’t turn off the spell checker.” Essentially all book writing tools in existence have the ability to turn off the spell checker. Learn not to stress out about minor errors. Don’t worry; you’ll correct all those mistakes in the editing process.

As I mentioned already, AI can be great for brainstorming. Here are a few prompts I specifically use in ChatGPT or Claude, two of the more advanced language models:

Give me [NUMBER] high-concept pitches for a bestselling [GENRE] story with a unique twist, intriguing characters, and gripping emotional stakes.

Give me [NUMBER] ideas for characters that are part of a bestselling [GENRE] story that are well fleshed out, have strengths and weaknesses, and undergo conflict throughout the course of the story. Briefly describe their character arc.

Or, when you already know your initial concept:

I'd like to write a [GENRE] novel about [YOUR IDEA]. Please help me expand on this idea by providing potential details about interesting protagonists, antagonists, side characters, settings, plot twists, and subplots. Make a list of 100 possibilities.

You can literally use prompts like these in any situation, which really helps save time when you're trying to come up with perfect situation to put your characters in for maximum feels.

And of course, don't forget to check out my list of the best prompts for fiction authors. It will walk you through everything you need to get started using AI to get past your next writing hurdle. You can get the PDF here.

Writing faster is not all about “hands-on keyboard, butt in the chair, and go!” You need to do your research beforehand, including genre research. Assuming you’ve already identified your genre, I encourage you to search for competitors, specifically in the self-publishing realm. Read their bestselling books, or at least learn what they’re about, how they’re structured, and what about them most appeals to readers. To know your genre, you must become your genre. Pick a genre that you’re passionate about and that you’ve read a lot of books in. Myth: “Reading books in your genre will negatively affect your own novel.” This isn’t true at all. Unless you’re simply copying and pasting plot points, character arcs, or distinct settings, reading other books in your genre helps you know what a reader will expect of you: tropes, archetypal characters, types of setting, and more. Use Publisher Rocket to find competing books with the Competition Analyzer tool. You can view helpful info like age range, estimated sales, etc.

Outline your story. There are many different ways to outline your novel , but you need to create some kind of outline. Outlining your story has so many benefits:

• Better pacing
• No plot holes
• Improved character arcs
• Scenes in order
• Direction and focus when you write
• Time saved in the editing phase
• Less writer’s block

And remember, you can change your outline at any time. Don’t feel tied down. You should feel unburdened by the structure an outline provides. Many writers are pantsers, meaning they just sit down and write instead of plotting their story first. This may work for a select few masters of the craft, but not outlining your work leads to writer’s block, uneven pacing, plot holes, and a lack of focus. Myth: “Stephen King doesn’t outline, and he’s super successful, so I shouldn’t outline.” First of all, Stephen King is such a master that he outlines in his head without writing it down. Secondly, isn’t King infamous for his bad endings? Maybe that’s because of his lack of a written outline.

I know some writers who write the broad strokes of their story with pencil and paper, which works great for them. I know other writers who detail every scene and piece of information that need to be in each chapter, and that works great for them. I recommend you at least write down a line or two under each chapter heading so you know what to write when you get there. Also, when you’re outlining, write like a 10-year-old. Don’t get fancy, don’t waste time, summarize in broad, general statements what is happening — like a 10-year-old describing their favorite movie. In your outline, you can include:

• Main points of the plot (broad strokes)
• Specific scenes organized by cause and effect
• Character arcs
• Motivations
• The denouement

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Here are some of my favorite outline templates and resources:

• My article on How to Outline a Novel
• The Novel Factory’s Novel Outline Templates for Multiple Genres
• Evernote’s 12 Creative Writing Templates
• Derek Murphy’s Free Fiction Template to Help Outline Your Novel
• Libbie Hawker’s Take Off Your Pants! (Yes, it's about outlining.)
• Josh Fechter’s Which Novel Outline Template is Right for You

You can access novel outline templates in popular book writing software like Scrivener , MS Word , Ulysses , and bibisco .

Dictation is basically talking instead of writing. Experiment with high-quality dictation software (AKA speech-to-text software) if you’re having trouble typing for very long. You probably talk faster than you write, so this is a method worth trying out if you want to write faster. Although these apps will not perfectly transcribe your speech, don’t worry about it right now. Don’t edit any of it until you’ve finished writing the scene or chapter. Then the editing phase can begin. Myth: “All speech-to-text software sucks.” Although some speech-to-text software may prove subpar, there are plenty of fantastic applications out there that you can use to dictate:

• Microsoft Azure Speech to Text
• Google Docs Text-to-Speech Function
• Amazon Transcribe
• Dragon by Nuance
• Speechmatic
• Just Press Record
• Speechnotes

You’ll spend more time editing after you've finished your words for the day, but you’ll likely get more done when you dictate.

Check out this handy article on Best Book Transcription Services for Authors as well as this one on How to Dictate a Book .

I’ve already suggested turning off that red squiggly line. Now, let’s go bigger.

You need to silence your inner editor if you’re going to write faster. Whenever you self-edit while writing, it slows you down more than you could imagine.

This is a tricky step for most writers because we’re so critical of ourselves. There’s probably a bit of imposter syndrome thrown in there, too. But perfectionism is the enemy of typing speed. It takes perfectionists forever just to finish a rough draft on any given writing project.

Myth: “If I don’t edit now, my book will be riddled with errors.” You better edit your book once you’ve finished it. If you don’t edit your first draft once you’ve written it, then your book reviews will be scathing, and you’ll sell fewer books.

You should edit your book at least 3 times before hiring a professional editor to edit it again. But only edit after you’ve written.

When you see that weird dialogue , keep writing.

When you want to edit formatting, keep writing.

When you spot a clunky sentence, keep writing.

When you feel like your story is the worst thing ever, don’t stop. Keep writing.

You may run into something you need to research or look up. Instead of scouring Googling for ten minutes, insert placeholder text like “ZX” or “TK” and move on. This allows you to avoid distractions, maintain momentum, and write faster.

You can COMMAND + F or CTRL + F for the placeholder text after you’ve finished the chapter.

Alternatively, book writing tools like Scrivener allow you to seamlessly split-screen what you’re writing and any research document or image or web page you’ve uploaded into the sidebar. That way, you aren’t opening a new tab, ruining your inertia. Myth: “I need to research while I’m writing.” No, you don’t. Keep writing, research later. Google whatever you need to before or after you write. Then you can change what you wrote.

Format Beautiful Professional Books

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15. Reward Yourself

Motivate yourself to write faster by rewarding yourself. These rewards don’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. But they’re a great way to train yourself to write faster.

Pavlovian responses are natural. The bell rings, you drool for your reward. Reward yourself for writing consistently and quickly; I promise writing will get easier and easier the more you reward yourself and love writing.

When you complete your Pomodoros for the day, treat yourself to a new book or a mani-pedi (they’re good for men, too) or quality time spent with family. Buy yourself a healthy snack or junk food — whatever you will personally respond to.

For more significant milestones, you earn bigger rewards. Examples include:

• Wrote 2,000 words in 1 hour? Eat out at your favorite restaurant.
• Achieved your daily writing goals for a month straight? Buy the newest Apple product you’ve been wanting.
• Finished your outline? Watch Netflix all day Saturday with the fam.
• Finished a book? Get yourself that gilded monocle you’ve been eyeing.

Once again, this doesn’t have to be a financial reward. No matter the prize, the positive psychological impact is enormous. You’ll feel more motivated the next day, resulting in faster writing.

This is the first time I’ve shared my dirty little secret. I keep an entire notebook of scratched-out word counts. I hope you get as much pleasure out of this reward as I do. Let me explain how to use my “Cross It Out” method:

• Grab a notebook.
• Write the title of your story at the top of a page.
• On each line, write a subset of your total word count. For example: 1,000, 2,000, 3,000.
• When you’ve written 1,000 words, cross out “1,000” in your notebook. Written 2,000 words? Cross out “2,000” in your notebook.

It’s very satisfying, encouraging, and rewarding to whittle away at your word count. This rewarding feeling should compel you to write more and write quickly.

A lot can be said for the write app to help you with your productivity.

A good focus app can help you

• Eliminate distractions like social media
• Set a timer to help you work
• Give you a reason to not stop (see Write Or Die for a great example of this)

And that's just the basics.

Myth: A focus app is just surface level. In order to be truly focused, you've got to just work harder.

Not true at all. Focus apps provide systems that trick your brain into doing what it needs to, and many have found that something as simple as a timer is enough to double or event triple their productivity.

That said, not all tools are what you specifically need. Each one has different strengths, so you need to find the one that's right for you.

Check out some great tips in this list of productivity apps that help writers write faster:

• Daily Prompt
• FocusWriter
• Write Or Die
• Scrivener (Composition Mode)

Writer's block accounts for most time wasted for authors, so I ideally like to have a few techniques to break past it.

And nothing has solved that problem better than AI.

Here is a prompt that I've used with ChatGPT or Claude to get past writers block. You can adapt this to work in the outlining stage as well:

I am writing a novel in the [GENRE] genre. Here is the last section that I just wrote:

[INSERT LAST 500-1000 WORDS THAT YOU WROTE]

Please give me 10 ideas on where the plot could go next. [INSERT ANY ADDITIONAL PARAMETERS HERE]

And here are a lot more prompts that you can use if you need them. You can get the PDF here.

If you don't know what your goal is, you're likely to go nowhere. And it's progress towards a goal that breeds true motivation.

Myth: Motivation is that excited feeling you get before you start a project that gets you through to the end of your goal.

False. Motivation is generated by success. Therefore, the best kind of goals you can set include one big goal, but then a lot of little goals that act as stepping stones to your big goal.

For example, your big goal could be finishing a 100,000-word book. And your little goals can be 10,000 or even 5,000-word sections, which seem a lot more doable. See my “Cross it Out” method above. Just checking off a step toward a big goal can be a huge reward and result in more motivation.

Deadlines can be a huge motivation for authors. This is one area where traditional publishing has a slight edge on independent authors, because the publishing house will provide a deadline for each draft of your book that you have to meet.

Pro Tip: I like to give myself deadlines that I can't just back out of whenever I want. For some, this could be a preorder (though you should know my view on preorders ), for others it could be talking to another person and agreeing with them on some consequence for not hitting the deadline, or a reward that you only get when you hit it.

Sometimes we don't write enough because we don't have a true idea of what we're capable of. A marathon day can do this for you.

Myth: writing a book fast lessens the quality of the book.

False. I've found that the faster I write a book, the fewer structural revisions I need because everything I had written was fresh in my brain as I continued writing.

And a marathon day is the best way to get a lot of words out at once. Do you think it's possible to write 10,000 words a day? 12,000? It can be done.

Pick a day and make sure you have absolutely nothing scheduled for that day. Then start writing in the morning and keep going until the evening.

Now, you can burn yourself out quickly, and you don't want to do that. So take frequent breaks (I recommend the Pomodoro technique mentioned above), eat three healthy meals, get up and walk around frequently, and drink plenty of water. These techniques will help you have the stamina to get through the day.

If you spend 8-12 hours truly writing in a single day, you will be amazed at how much you get done. And that realization will help you write more in the future, because you will have a better sense of what you can accomplish.

Speaking of writing marathons, NaNoWriMo (which stands for National Novel Writing Month) is a yearly event where authors get together to write at least 50,000 words in the month of November. That's the size of a small novel.

The community surrounding NaNoWriMo is huge, and can be a huge support when trying to get 50,000 words done in a single month. But when you succeed, there's no better feeling, and you'll realize that you actually are capable of writing a book in a month.

It's hard to meet your goals and stay on task by yourself, because you have no skin in the game. After all, if you mess up, no one will know but you.

That's why an accountability partner is so important. Confiding in someone can be a powerful motivation to follow through on your actions.

Personally, I recommend against posting on social media, as this is impersonal. Instead, find someone that you truly respect, someone that you wouldn't dream of disappointing if you give you word. This can be a spouse, family member, or close friend.

Myth : If you want anything done well, you have to do it yourself.

Absolutely false. In order to truly excel, you need to focus on those things that you do best, or that are most important for you to grow as an author. If you want to be the best at writing, then you've got to write. Everything else is a distraction.

To help you enjoy writing more, consider hiring a virtual assistant or someone to help with the extra chores that distract you from your writing. You won't believe how much of a relief this is.

I understand this can be hard for authors who are just starting out and don't have the funds to outsource their tasks. That's fine, but consider starting small. Pick your least favorite task that someone else could easily do, and see if you can find someone willing to work for cheap on Fiverr or Upwork.

Because ultimately, it makes more financial sense for you to work on the writing, because that will result in more books, which results in more sales.

If you're having trouble writing, try freewriting.

Myth: You must focus solely on writing your book.

Sometimes, when authors hit writers block, it can be because you have some words inside you that you just need to get out. A good way to get past writers block is just to start writing, about anything.

It can be related to your novel, or it could just be a stream of consciousness as you describe what you're thinking in that moment. This will get you into the rhythm of writing, and you'll be back to the novel in no time.

Freewriting also helps you to practice and perfect your prose. It's a win-win.

I debated putting this here, but I really feel it's important.

Myth: Writing productivity has nothing to do with your physical health. After all, you're just sitting in a chair while you write, so diet and exercise don't matter, right?

I've found that when I'm eating unhealthily, with sugary snacks and a lack of vegetables, that I'm a lot more tired throughout the day. This is true of virtually every author that I've talked to. Your diet and exercise affect your mental state, and that affects your writing.

Now I'm not a doctor, nor should any of this be taken as medical advice, but I think it's pretty straightforward to say that a healthy diet/lifestyle and exercise will help you to write faster.

For more on this and related topics, I recommend The Healthy Writer , by Joanna Penn and Euan Lawson.

I've mentioned ChatGPT and Claude several times throughout this article, and while they do help, they aren't specifically built for authors. In fact, they can require a learning curve if you are just starting out using AI.

That's why I recommend using a tool that's specifically built for fiction authors.

Now, I've done a full roundup of the best AI writing tools , but one that I like to recommend for fiction authors specifically is called Sudowrite . It's a tool built just for authors, and is therefore carefully designed to cover tasks that authors often need, like brainstorming, character creation, and editing (the “Show, not Tell” revision button is my favorite).

Sudowrite is packed with a lot of different features, to the point that I'm sure many of you can find something that works for you, and it's a great way to start experimenting with AI, even if you're still a little on the fence about it.

To help with that, if you use the link below, you can actually get 10,000 words for free when you sign up, meaning you can use those words to experiment further before you even pay for the tool. So check them out if you're interested.

How do you write faster?

You can write faster and better if you follow the writing tips and tricks I’ve discussed, such as setting aside dedicated writing time, outlining your story, not editing while you write, rewarding yourself when you achieve a goal, or even using AI to take away some of the grunt work.

Be consistent. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Use the Pomodoro Technique. Challenge yourself to beat your own word count score and save time. Practice makes perfect. That’s how to write faster.

I believe the best way to write faster is setting a consistent schedule, turning off your grammar and spell check for a while, and rewarding yourself. But you might think differently.

For instance, there are thousands of authors now using newer techniques like dictation or AI writing. Those techniques, combined with good time-management principles, can likely help your writing speed skyrocket, while reducing writing fatigue at the same time.

How do you write faster for NaNoWriMo? Many writers take up the challenge of writing a whole novel in one month: NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. You can write faster for NaNoWriMo with the Pomodoro Technique, scheduling undisturbed writing time, outlining and researching ahead of time, and not editing while writing.

Honest truth: There’s no “get rich quick, write fast easy” scheme. There’s hard work. If writing is what you really want to do, you have to put in the hard work. Hopefully, the tools and pro tips in this article make that hard work a little bit easier.

Dave Chesson

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

• 20. Have a "Marathon" Day

Related Posts

How to write a whodunit, top 8 best scrivener alternatives for writers (+ the only one that matters), scrivener vs. ulysses: which writing tool should you buy, sell more books on amazon, how to title a book checklist.

Titling your book can be hard…really hard. As you go through choosing your book title, use this checklist as your guide and make sure you have a title that will sell!

50 thoughts on “ Learn How to Write Faster [26 Tips for Writers] ”

I can’t even begin to tell you how helpful this article was to me right now.

I just wanted to throw a tip out to Vanja, who mentioned not being able to bookmark webpages. I email links to myself and then move them to specific folders in my gmail such as Writing Tips, Marketing, Wordpress Help, etc.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go turn off my wifi and squiggles.

Awesome and super glad you enjoyed it!

Techniques 5 and 3, and definitely 13 (🎂) help my writing. I’m scared to test my words per minute, it’s probably quite low… 😭 But hunkering down into undisturbed writing time and then just getting words down on the page even if they are horrible has helped me a ton. Great article and thanks for the helpful info!

Yeah, I like those too…and thanks!

Some of us have physical constraints which limit typing speed. I can no longer attain the wpm count that I reached at typing school, seven decades ago – and that time span should give you a clue why. Arthritis. Another constraint for mature typists is the general slowing-down of the thought processes. This has been slightly ameliorated by chucking out my digital keyboards and buying one of those mechanical jobs, designed for gamers. Its action is similar to that of the old-fashioned typewriter that I learned to type on many years ago. And the keys make a comforting click as you type.

Then there are the mental barriers. How does a perfectionist control freak grammar Nazi with ADHD manage to stop editing on the fly? I know I’m doing it. I know it’s wrong, But I cannot leave that back-space button along. I cannot wait to find that “mot juste” before moving on. his latter problem is compounded by temporarily losing a word that I know perfectly well – a normal issue for an ageing brain. The discovery that Word has a built-in Thesaurus has at least cut down the interruption time of leaving the page and resorting to Google. Oh; and did I mention that I’m a pantster?

Nonethless, I entered the NaNoWriMo challenge two years ago. Despite my poor writing habits, I aced it. I knocked off what turned out to be the first draft of my first novel in 23 days. 50200 words in 23 days is not too shabby.

But I don’t have a time problem. I’m a pensioner living alone, so I can write whenever the fancy takes me – and it takes me most of the time. So I’ll accept my speed limitations and bumble along in my own adorable, scatty way. And If I spend half-an-hour writing a 323 word comment on a blog at the expense of myh wip; so-be-it. I just enjoy writing. Anything.

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A (Very) Simple Way to Improve Your Writing

• Mark Rennella

It’s called the “one-idea rule” — and any level of writer can use it.

The “one idea” rule is a simple concept that can help you sharpen your writing, persuade others by presenting your argument in a clear, concise, and engaging way. What exactly does the rule say?

• Every component of a successful piece of writing should express only one idea.
• In persuasive writing, your “one idea” is often the argument or belief you are presenting to the reader. Once you identify what that argument is, the “one-idea rule” can help you develop, revise, and connect the various components of your writing.
• For instance, let’s say you’re writing an essay. There are three components you will be working with throughout your piece: the title, the paragraphs, and the sentences.
• Each of these parts should be dedicated to just one idea. The ideas are not identical, of course, but they’re all related. If done correctly, the smaller ideas (in sentences) all build (in paragraphs) to support the main point (suggested in the title).

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

Most advice about writing looks like a long laundry list of “do’s and don’ts.” These lists can be helpful from time to time, but they’re hard to remember … and, therefore, hard to depend on when you’re having trouble putting your thoughts to paper. During my time in academia, teaching composition at the undergraduate and graduate levels, I saw many people struggle with this.

• MR Mark Rennella is Associate Editor at HBP and has published two books, Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders and The Boston Cosmopolitans .  

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How to Improve Your Writing Speed

In this article

Are you struggling to improve your writing speed?

There are millions of people with the same issue.

This guide will teach you all about speed writing and how to improve your typing.

In turn, this should boost your business performance and potentially save hours of your time every week.

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What is Speed Writing?

Speed writing is a technique that increases your typing speed and accuracy. It combines various methods to gradually improve your typing performance. Seen as an essential skill for business purposes, speed writing will help you be more efficient and productive. You can use Grammarly or other writing apps to check if you made any errors while speed writing and whether your tone is consistent throughout your writing.

Why does speed writing matter?

An average person types just above 40 words per minute (wpm) with about 90% accuracy. People who type for a living are averaging somewhere between 50-80 wpm, meaning they can do the job twice as fast. That should be your goal too, as it will enable you to finish your work much quicker.

Speed Writing in Action

Example #1: Freelance transcription experts

If you’re struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of spoken words, hire a transcriber .

Freelance transcription experts use speed writing to translate speech into words.

This is important because it helps people with hearing impairments (in relation to subtitles), for example.

Transcription has another valuable purpose, as videos with accompanying text are ranked higher  on search engines. Highly skilled typing experts can transcribe dialogue into words in real-time. This means that they can complete tasks quickly and efficiently.

Example #2: Secretarial and assistant jobs

These jobs require a lot of typing.

These positions often involve managing the company’s email accounts and daily correspondence, running social media pages, or maintaining calendars. Every minute saved with speed writing is important. Potential employers often ask for job candidates to type around 70 wpm. These positions often involve extensive typing throughout the day, from managing emails and social media to crafting documents and reports. Many office workers swear by standing desks to combat fatigue and maintain focus during long stretches of typing, making speed writing even more effective.

Example #3: Court reporters

Court reporters need to transcribe every word said during a trial. This requires the highest level of speed writing, above 200 wpm. To achieve that, they’re specially trained to use stenotype machines. Unlike a typical keyboard, a stenotype has fewer keys than a QWERTY model. Multiple keys need to be pressed at the same time to form words, syllables, and phrases.

Example #4: Journalists

Journalists are required to have speed writing skills, as it’s important to publish new stories accurately and quickly. This is especially the case since the rise of social media. Being the first to post an important news story means more views and potential earnings. Other content creators, such as bloggers, also require this skill to turn their ideas into words and edit them later.

Example #5: Content creators

Content creators and freelance writers can get more work done (and therefore get paid more) if they learn how to speed write.

If you can halve the time it takes you to complete an article, you double the amount you can make in a week.

How to Improve Your Speed Writing: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough

The more you type, the better you’ll be at it. The techniques outlined below will help you achieve your speed writing goals.

Find the right keyboard

The QWERTY keyboard comes in many different variations . But if you type a lot, an ergonomic keyboard will suit you best. Generally, the larger the keys are, the easier you’ll find them without looking.

Get a keyboard with concave keys and with strong tactile feedback. That way, you’ll know if your stroke has registered. Using the best keyboard alignment for you can help you to quickly use your own type of shorthand to get information down fast.

Proper finger arrangement

You can type 200 wpm, but if you’re making lots of errors, your speed won’t matter much. That’s why it’s important to improve both your speed and accuracy. Proper finger placement is what you need to learn first and to use all 10 fingers to type.

Every keyboard has a slight bump on the “F” and “J” keys, as this is where your index fingers should be when you’re typing. Using the right fingers for the right keys will help to improve typing speed and writing speed.

Touch typing

Learning how to touch type is extremely important in many fields of employment. If you master this discipline, you can focus your eyes on the screen and check if you’re making mistakes. There’s no magical solution. Like anything, you’ll need to practice.

Thankfully, you’ll find lots of fun ways to do it for free on the internet. You can try TypeRacer  and compete with other people from around the world. There are no penalties for coming last – it is all about learning how to type faster while feeling no pressure.

Is it possible to type more than 300 wpm?

Typing speed of over 200 wpm is extremely rare, and reaching 300 wpm can only be done in short bursts, at least on standard QWERTY keyboards. To illustrate this, we can look at the current world record holder Barbara Blackburn.

In 2005, she reached a typing speed of 212 wpm, while her average was 150 wpm for 50 minutes. When it comes to fast writing, Barbara Blackburn is a true champion.

What is the minimum speed writing requirement for a job?

The average typing speed is about 40 wpm, and that’s a minimum requirement for jobs in general. Secretarial and administrative assistant jobs ask for people to type 50-80 wpm. The same goes for data entry specialists.

Court reporters can double or triple that speed, but they’re not using standard QWERTY keyboards. With a good speed writing system, getting a job that requires this skill should not be difficult.

How long does it take to improve typing speed?

Increasing typing speed requires a lot of dedication. On average, to improve your typing speed by one wmp, you’ll need around three hours of practice. In this respect, progress is mostly linear, meaning that getting from 70 wpm to 80 wpm will take you the same time as getting from 80 wpm to 90 wpm.

Something which we would recommend is taking a shorthand course from professional writers to improve your writing skills. There are even some free writing classes online that can help you improve typing speed. Secretaries and professional note takers will learn this in a secretarial college, and yes, this is indeed a real thing.

How to practice typing

One of the best ways is to go online and take a typing test. The site will judge your results, and also give you tips on how to improve. Focus both on your speed and accuracy for the best results.

Are There Different Types of Shorthand?

There are a variety of shorthand note taking systems that may work for you. Here are some of the best ones to check out.

• Pitman Shorthand
• Teeline Shorthand
• Gregg Shorthand

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Hopefully, this guide has inspired you to improve your speed writing. While we presented techniques to help you reach your goal, the most important thing is to practice and be patient.

Taking speed typing tests online and playing games will help you do that while having fun in the process. As you gradually improve, you’ll save a considerable amount of time for other tasks.

Get long-term ROI.

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S.P.E.E.D. Writing: 5 Tips to Double Your Writing Productivity

Some people are writing machines. They get an idea, pound it out in minutes, post it to their blog, and move on to something else. For the rest of the world, writing is often slow, grinding work.

But it doesn’t have to be. Anyone can write faster if they follow a 5-step formula for writing more efficiently. I call it S.P.E.E.D. Writing.

Before I describe this formula, let me admit that I write a lot. I serve dozens of clients, maintain two of my own blogs, write for a political blog, write articles for half a dozen other blogs, and do other miscellaneous writing. It seems I can never write fast enough.

I’m not slow. But I can’t whip out copy and walk away as some do. One problem I have is editing while I write . It slows me down. In fact, I rewrote this paragraph that you’re reading right now three times before moving on.

By studying my own bad habits and with the advice of others, I came up with the S.P.E.E.D. Writing formula to help myself write faster and be more productive. When I follow it, I can write twice as fast or faster.

S : Select a topic

Not having anything to say can cause writer’s block. But having too much to say is a problem too.

If you try to jam in every thought, you’ll end up with an unfocused post. This slows you down because you’ll have to figure out how to make all the extra stuff sound relevant. Then, because you know it’s not relevant, you’ll just spend more time deleting it later.

Narrow your topic to one idea. ONE idea. If other topics come to mind, make a note of them for other posts. By sticking to one and only one idea, you’ll force yourself to stay on-point, which will shorten your writing time and give your readers a better post.

P : Prepare your facts

When you find yourself staring helplessly at your computer screen, it’s almost always because you don’t have facts at hand. Gathering information before you start will usually get you writing quickly.

Before you write a single word, jot down a few notes. If you don’t have the facts in your head or if you need additional information, do a little research. That can be as simple as opening a book, scanning a magazine, or Googling a few key terms. Don’t “compose” while taking notes. Just get the facts all in one place.

Starting an idea file is a huge time-saver. I keep a simple text file on my computer desktop and jot down ideas as I get them. I also use Google Notebook to record notes from online reading. I don’t tear out magazine bits anymore because that creates clutter that I have to sort through later.

E : Establish a structure

Some writers like to think that writing should be free of rules. But that’s bunk.

Every piece of writing, especially blog writing, needs structure. It could be a short narrative, a Q&A, a series of bullet points, a numbered list, etc.

You can use this structure to outline your post. It doesn’t have to be a formal outline like the type you learned in school. Just take all your facts or ideas and arrange them in the order you want them to appear in your finished piece, using your chosen structure as a guide.

For this article, I decided to use an easy to remember acronym, S.P.E.E.D., to give me five points to cover. Once I collected my information, I divided it among these five points.

A set structure also helps you avoid the trap of linear writing. You don’t have to start at the beginning and write line-by-line to the end. With a structure, you can write in pieces, in any order you like. For this article, I’m writing the five points first, and I’ll write the introduction last.

E : Eliminate distractions

This is harder than it sounds. There are so many distractions in my day that I often take multitasking to the extreme. That slows down writing exponentially.

Like any other task you want to complete quickly, writing requires undivided attention. Turn off the TV, mute the phone, close your email program, get off your social networks, and just write.

D : Dash to the finish

This is the biggie. You can’t agonize over every word or sit and stare at your computer screen. Put your fingers on the keyboard and GO.

It doesn’t have to be perfect writing. Just get the words down. You might be surprised at how much you can get done and how good it is if you take off the brakes and let ‘er rip.

This means you can’t read and reread what you’re writing while you write. I’ll admit, this is tough for me. When I get stumped, I often go back and read what I’ve written to create momentum that can carry me forward.

It works sometimes. But it’s a bad idea for a first draft. You can read what you’ve written after you’ve written it all the way through.

It also means you shouldn’t edit while you write. Writing and editing should be separate tasks. Take off the editor hat and just plow through until you’re finished. Later, you can edit and revise.

(I have to laugh at myself for giving this advice, because if this were a crime, I’d get life in jail.)

If you follow this formula, you’ll quickly end up with a written post. You’ll want to edit right away, but don’t. Just walk away. Once all the words are down and in order, save your document and do something else.

Later, you can edit with a fresh eye. Objectivity always makes you a better editor. You’ll catch the mistakes. You’ll spot the extraneous details. You’ll cut the fat .

Okay. I’m done. Now I’m going to save this and . . . aw nuts. I just reread the article.

It’s easier to give this advice than to follow it.

Dean Rieck has been called “the best direct response copywriter in America.” Get his free report, Dazzle Your Clients and Double Your Income.

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Reader Interactions

Reader comments (93).

September 29, 2009 at 9:19 am

Great piece of advice you have here Dean, but as you are saying is hard sometimes to follow it.

For me it’s quite hard to eliminate distractions and “Dash to the finish”, but I will do my best to change this.

PS: You just got yourself a new reader 🙂

September 29, 2009 at 9:32 am

You know, I’ve been writing as an amature for years, including newspapers, books, magazines, and now blogging. Yet I didn’t have a well-thought-out plan for writing in really any of those areas. This is a big help and I look forward to putting it into play.

September 29, 2009 at 9:50 am

Turn your monitor off as you type. When you’re done with your rough draft, turn your monitor back on.

Simple, but works like a charm.

September 29, 2009 at 9:54 am

Most of what you said I use in teaching people to write short memoir. It really works, especially for new writers, however, it’s more difficult to teach old writers new tricks, besides they are harder on themselves than beginners.

I wish I could take more of my own advice. Now that that same advice is coming from you, perhaps I’ll follow it!

September 29, 2009 at 9:56 am

I am a victim of obsessive editing, which absolutely slows me down. One thing I’ve been doing that really helps is, as you suggest, create a text page of ideas. Some are just a phrase, a title or a couple of sentences, just to make sure I don’t lose the idea when it comes into my head. Some are rough posts, sometimes rambling, but serve as the raw material to edit later. I usually get a post from one of these, and rarely do I sit, write, and post all in one sitting.

September 29, 2009 at 10:04 am

I was just tearing my hair out over creating 1 post! It has taken me days and I was starting to feel like a failure.

Yes, writing should be fluid; editing bringing order @ the end.

September 29, 2009 at 10:17 am

I have difficulty with staying focused on one idea. I have so much to say about one topic that the article I write could probably be two or three articles, and I have to trim it down. Maybe I need to differentiate between a topic and an idea. Good thoughts!

September 29, 2009 at 10:20 am

My task list lately has a “take a speed reading course”, and yet what I need more than anything is a speed-writing course. Thanks for this great post. If I could only not obsess over editing and writing flawless grammar and punctuation, I would most likely double my content (and then go back and edit it later?!!!). No seriously, logical flow, thanks!!! Off to implementation! 🙂

September 29, 2009 at 10:22 am

This is great, Dean. I have a detail monster sitting on my shoulder; I obsess too much about getting everything right and spent an embarrassing amount of time on a post just yesterday (sometimes I obsess when I write blog comments). But writing is rarely “done,” there’s always something that can be tweaked or reworded. There has to be a point where you decide it’s ready and send it out into the world.

Dash to the finish and edit later? Your jail cell would be mighty crowded… but it’s good advice and well worth practicing. Your mnemonic is about to become a sticky note on my desktop.

September 29, 2009 at 10:23 am

Nice tips. I’ve found the WordPress plugin “Peter’s Post Notes” to be an extremely useful tool in the dashboard. Have an idea? Write the post title, and use the notes on the side to jot down your outline, links to facts and data, etc… so when you sit down to bang out the post, this serves as a guide to keep you writing smoothly.

September 29, 2009 at 10:39 am

That sounds nifty, Rob, thanks for the pointer.

My secret weapon is a timer. Nothing entirely tames my editing monster, but putting a time limit around writing tasks at least keeps it in check. 🙂

September 29, 2009 at 10:45 am

I love this post, and since I am just about beginner in travel-writing, this is also very helpful in getting me used to writing articles. S.P.E.E.D. is easy to remember too. My biggest problem is picking too wide a topic, so this should help. Thank you.

September 29, 2009 at 10:54 am

I already use this kind of structure in my writing. Haha, never thought of a COOL way to express it. Writing is not such a big deal for me, but I understand that blogging needs structure. And if I write the way I want, it’ll be chaos. I have a notebook in which I scribble all my brainstormings. I usually write them down in a ‘tree-format’ – or a cloud with linked subjects. This helps me to build structure and a relaxed reading atmosphere in my articles. I don’t want to push to much info at once to the reader.

– Whenigetrich.com

September 29, 2009 at 11:00 am

Shane: You mean turn off the computer monitor so you can’t see what you’re typing? Now that’s radical advice. But I see why that might work for some people.

Momblebee: I feel your pain. I can be an obsessive editor too. I’m never happy and find myself editing stuff I’ve written from years ago. But I know that’s unhealthy and I’m trying to break that nasty habit.

September 29, 2009 at 11:02 am

Great post. Might I suggest that S is “Stay on topic” then?

Shane, that sounds like an interesting idea. Difficult to implement on my laptop though! 🙂

September 29, 2009 at 11:14 am

I loved your SPEED tips. I write fast, but I am always trying to shave an extra minute or two from my best lap. Turning off the inner editor is HARD, but it’s always worth it. You can always go back, the most important thing is to step on the gas. You don’t have to be great to get going, but you do have to get going if you want to be great.

Sonia, I love working with a timer – it ALWAYS helps me muffle the inner editor when I know I’m trying to beat the clock.

September 29, 2009 at 11:23 am

These might seem obvious to some, but I was glad to have this provided. I wrote some of the important points for me to follow down on paper, which is a rarity for someone to do with an online article. One key point I will take is to prepare facts beforehand. I tend to extend the process by lackadaisically remembering facts one at a time and checking them out in the same way. Collecting them beforehand will do great for the process.

I also hadn’t thought about planning the structure beforehand, so I will give that a go as well.

Thanks for your presentation here.

September 29, 2009 at 11:31 am

Great tips, I like writing and have lots of info to get out.

Dr. Letitia Wright The Wright Place TV Show http://wrightplacetv.com http://www.twitter.com/drwright1

September 29, 2009 at 11:34 am

I think it helps to have an outline with facts and clearly stated goals to write an article. Sometimes I spend half my time wondering what I want to discuss in an article–going back and forth on it. I find that if I have an outline with a structure, I write and it flows much more easily. Great post.

September 29, 2009 at 11:49 am

I do believe in editing, and I don’t even think I’m (too) unhealthy for the amount of editing I do for posts. BUT, not while drafting.

Your “leave it alone” advice is something that I don’t think enough bloggers do–the tendency is to pound something out for today and get it up there. I don’t think people realize that letting it sit for a day actually saves time, because you see any little problems so much more clearly after a night’s sleep.

September 29, 2009 at 12:08 pm

“It doesn’t have to be perfect writing. Just get the words down.”

YES YES YES! Something that I have remind myself at times as well.

September 29, 2009 at 12:12 pm

Great idea to “leave it alone” I know for myself if I do not take that discipline into my writing time I edit and edit only to get the first line written in two hours…

Thanks again

September 29, 2009 at 12:19 pm

The other thing that works well for me is to just write and not edit. The edit always slows me down. I am also using something I learned from The Writers Coach. At the top of my article, I write a theme. This theme sets the tone for the article. That way, I can always go back and focus on the theme if I get stuck. When the article is done, I delete the theme.

September 29, 2009 at 12:20 pm

Hi everyyone

Thanks for an excellent post Dean! Some useful pointers here…

Eliminating distractions is something many bloggers and writers find difficult. To combat it, I adopt a systematic approach. Earplugs in, phone off, email popups put on hold and away I go. I always sit and plan ideas first, before I attempt the body article. This works for me as it consolidates my thinking and allows me to narrow down what I want to write.

I also agree with Simone. It’s very important to write a first draft and then read it again the next day with fresh eyes. As it’s hard to spot your own mistakes straight away, this can be a useful way to eliminate any technical errors and read your writing from a different perspective.

Something else that works for me is to keep a note pad for blog article ideas. After every finished blog post, I spend 10 minutes jotting down other blog topics. So, when I want to write another blog post, my ideas are already there.

Mind you, as a copywriter, there’s always something to write about. The trick is choosing what to write about next!

Thanks again – I thoroughly enjoyed your post, Dean.

September 29, 2009 at 12:37 pm

Great info on writing. My coach, Eric Lofholm says “focus on completion not perfection”. I try to just write and go back and edit. It does help to get the words out and they evaluate. Thanks,

September 29, 2009 at 12:39 pm

This article came at the perfect time for me; I’ve got so many projects going on, and I love to come up with new ones, so basically I feel like I’m chasing my tail half the time!

One thing I do that is different from the author’s advice here is that sometimes (not all the time) I do put on a movie or listen to music (it has to be without words). If I watch movies, they have to be ones I’ve seen a hundred times so I don’t feel like I’m missing anything and can just look up when I want to.

It also helps me stay focused and fresh if I get up every 45 minutes or so and do 15 minutes of chores. This is probably my best focusing tool (plus it gets the house clean).

September 29, 2009 at 12:42 pm

Dean, yes, turn the monitor off (or place a sheet of paper in front of your laptop screen).

The saying, “out of sight, out of mind,” stands here. Just consider it, “out of sight, out of editor’s mind.”

Just try it once folks. You’ll see(figuratively of course) 🙂

I am going to print this out and tape it up! Thanks for the awesome advice!

September 29, 2009 at 12:43 pm

This was an excellent post Dean. U’ve simplify the writing methods which makes it easier for me and all the readers in improving our writing skills and generating idea for blogpost.

Thanks once again!

September 29, 2009 at 12:44 pm

I forgot to mention something…I just completed the first draft of my autobiography with this practice of just getting it out. The quote that helped me was from the movie Finding Forrester: “No thinking – that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is… to write, not to think!”

September 29, 2009 at 1:00 pm

“Okay. I’m done.” – reminds me of Boiler Room are Ben gives that wicked speech to the new recruits. Sorry, I know it’s off topic, but I love that part.

I can identify with every step in this post. I have a 3 year old running around half of the day and 3 puppies the entire time.. I would kill for even an hour to write without distraction.

I also have a tendency to want to talk about way too much at once. Picking a topic is a great why to stay focused. I’ve gotten much better about cutting the fat since I’ve started reading Copyblogger!

September 29, 2009 at 1:23 pm

One of the coolest aspects of writing for the web is that there are so many effective structures to choose from!

I’ve invented a couple of my own, too. One is for writing “practical tips” and it’s really useful. Once I get an idea for a tip, I can usually knock it out in 10 minutes.

September 29, 2009 at 1:55 pm

I like the advice and how you cleverly used the acronym.

Wish I could come up with a concrete plan to find time free of distractions when I am a new mom. A new season, a new challenge…

September 29, 2009 at 1:59 pm

Dean, I liked this post. The subject is relevant in my life right now as I’m writing a book. I bought a program called “how to write a book in 14 days”. It suggests outlining your chapters with 15 subpoints, and then writing 3 bullet points under each subpoint and to write for 5 minutes as fast as you can incorporating the 3 bullet points. I’m getting stuck b/c I feel like if I write too fast, my content sucks. Am I getting too hung up on evaluating my work? Do you like this particular speed writing idea? any other suggestions?

September 29, 2009 at 2:24 pm

You had me laughing (and commiserating) about taking your own advice about self editing. Why is it so hard to just write, wait a bit, and then edit? Don’t know, but it is. And please don’t ask me how many times I’ve backspaced and edited and reread this short little comment. It’s downright embarrassing! (Looking up how to spell embarrassing doesn’t count, does it?)

September 29, 2009 at 2:55 pm

These are great steps, I have a few friends who blog and according to them, take days and even weeks to finalize a SINGLE post. Frankly, I think it’s a bit ridiculous.

I am one of the few that actually sits down and bangs out a post in less than an hour. For one of my blogs, this works extremely well and I get plenty of great feedback. Sometimes, I will write an outline or rough draft and then go from there. I have structures, but they vary each time.

Thanks for your insights, I will be sure to come back to this post for future reference.

September 29, 2009 at 3:02 pm

This is great advice. I already do quite a bit of it, but it has been learned through trial and error. Thanks!

September 29, 2009 at 3:08 pm

Marc-I know I’m not Dean, but I do have experience in the book writing dept. Everyone has their own writing style and habits. The course you’re talking about promotes the, “write as fast as you can, no matter how crappy it is” type writer. Which is great for some people, but not for others. If you’re writing non-fiction, list each topic you want to cover, then look at each chapter like an article. Concentrate on what you want that “article” to say and spend around 30 min or so focused on that one “article”. Hope that helps.

September 29, 2009 at 3:10 pm

I am SO with you, especially on Preparing your facts. You’d think I’d learn after finding it so much easier to write once I’ve taken the time to jot notes beforehand – that helps with structure, too. Right now, Dashing to the Finish is my biggest challenge – I fall into the trap of self-editing while writing, which is just so WRONG.

Thanks for the great post!

September 29, 2009 at 3:44 pm

Writing is a big part of my job and I fall into every bad habit you mention. Appreciate you sharing some very good ideas. I’ll keep it handy and refer to often as a reminder. I’ve reread these three sentences 4 times already..5.. damn!

Thanks again.

September 29, 2009 at 3:54 pm

This is so timely! I was just accepted as a contributor to three different sites besides my own last week, so I am trying to squeeze in way more writing.

I use a timer for everything because I have very limited time. I also do a lot of thinking during the day, and I’ll just jot down ideas as they come. Then, when I go to write I can barely type fast enough.

September 29, 2009 at 4:06 pm

These are great tips! To eliminate distractions, I find it’s incredibly helpful to actually physically write my blog posts in a notebook. The ideas flow freely and I’m not tempted by Twitter or Facebook. Then, when I type it out it gives me a chance to edit.

September 29, 2009 at 4:57 pm

I’ve been utilizing this S.P.E.E.D acronym for eons without even realizing it. You mentioned naturally speedy writers and then those that require a bit more time to flesh out an idea. I guess I would fall somewhere in the middle. This morning I wrote 4 posts. One that was published today at my newest venture The Unspoken Word and the other three are for publication later this week on my Inconsequential Logic website.

More than anything else, I have to be in the mood for writing. If I don’t feel it, I can’t write. Hats off to you sir for the amount of quality and quantity of writing that you do.

September 29, 2009 at 5:10 pm

Great advice, Dean.

I always jot down an outline before I start writing, otherwise I find it takes forever. As long as I have my key points (or even just sub-headers), the writing tends to go much more quickly.

Unfortunately, I’m a habitual self-editor, even in the first draft. I have to constantly remind myself to just finish, then edit later.

September 29, 2009 at 7:22 pm

Wonderful article and this article is specially for that lazy person who knows that money is in Content and as “Content is King” so people is so lazy to write blogs.

But to be honest with everyone that sometimes I also be lazy and don’t get any speed to write, so this article as increased my speed.

Great article… thanks Dean for sharing it.

September 29, 2009 at 7:24 pm

My strategy is to write first drafts entirely, in one sitting – no re-reads allowed. I’ll write a bunch at a time.

Then, between 2 & 24 hours later I’ll review them all. Usually spot a few syntax/grammar mistakes, changes a few synonyms, tweak the structure and publish.

500 words in about 30 mins, total.

September 29, 2009 at 8:34 pm

It hard to double the speed in writing blog article because every blog article must be include the main key word that is most searching in the search engine . So we spend more time in blog writing by focus on the key word . Do you think so ?

September 29, 2009 at 8:45 pm

Man, this is dead on. Very important pointers here. An important point to stress though is that practice makes you better. This process will become MUCH quicker the more you write. Nothing can replace practice. The way to get quick is to spend a lot of time doing it 🙂

September 29, 2009 at 8:59 pm

This is something I’m always working, especially at the moment, since I suffer from every problem S.P.E.E.D. is addressing. What makes it worse, is that I’ve just penciled in more writing commitments.

I had no idea that it was such a common problem.

If this how I write now, (obsessing over every little detail before a first draft is even completed) how did I ever complete my school assignments? I don’t ever recall writing like this. (Even this comment didn’t escape!)

Such great timing for this article. Thank you!

September 29, 2009 at 9:29 pm

Thanks for this post I have just started writting articles for my blog. This has put a lot in perspective and makes my writting much easier. Thank you for this post. Looking forward to reaing more of your writtings and learning from you.

Antwuan Bell

September 29, 2009 at 10:49 pm

Onya, Dean! This is helpful stuff in a field that’s been done to death. All your hard work paid off! Many thanks, P. 🙂

September 30, 2009 at 3:04 am

Really good post and your whole S.P.E.E.D theory is excellent. I think the editing point is a valid one. Editing as I go is a habit of mine that I tried throughout my university life to break and finally managed it in my last year. I’ll definitely give these tips a whirl!

September 30, 2009 at 3:15 am

Even the top writers ‘edit’ and then ‘edit ‘ somemore. Keeping it simple has to be the key to quick, effective writing.

September 30, 2009 at 3:58 am

When I work on something. It takes me a while but I get it done. 10 minutes later I go over it again. And I spend another few hours tweaking. I loose so much time in my article writing.

September 30, 2009 at 6:11 am

I’ve always stuck to this S.P.E.E.D, even before I realized that someone could write a post on this. One thing, which is still difficult for me, is the D part. Since, ‘ve been blogging for quite a couple of years, now I find it a little easier to get along with the D. Great advice, I’ve bookmarked it 😉

September 30, 2009 at 6:28 am

Dashing to the finish is by far the most difficult for me. I always edit while I write, even though I know I shouldn’t. I’m printing out this list as a reminder. Thanks for sharing Dean!

September 30, 2009 at 7:20 am

Great tips. Also bear in mind that we usually need a ‘warm-up’ para. Just start writing but make one of your first editing jobs to remove the first paragraph. A reader doesn’t need as much of an intro as you think – but you need it to get into the writing ‘zone’.

September 30, 2009 at 10:32 am

Thanks– very helpful!

September 30, 2009 at 2:26 pm

As I said when I RT’d @BradleyWill’s tweet — Pure Gold!

I especially like the bit about finishing – LEAVING IT – and coming back to edit with a clear eye. Really works wonders. It’s one of the reasons I hate doing rush jobs for. No time built in for this crucial step.

And, yes – I’d be with you in gaol if editing-as-you-write were an offence. 🙂

September 30, 2009 at 3:46 pm

Thanks for the great advice Dean. I agree with you and Jane Howitt – rushing to edit a piece is a great way to miss mistakes because you are too close to your work. Now I just have to apply that bit of wisdom!

September 30, 2009 at 6:38 pm

Structuring always helps, eliminating distractions is slightly trickier!

September 30, 2009 at 9:08 pm

I have to say that this post is the best I have seen at CopyBlogger. Thanks for your sharing.

October 1, 2009 at 7:58 am

Excellent post. I love your S.P.E.E.D formula.

My biggest thing is editing while writing too; I have to remind myself to write first and edit second. I work to get things down on paper first before any editing happens.

I know all about distractions getting in the way. Being many things at once can lead to less time for writing. I like to keep a notebook, cellphone or recorder with me so I can keep notes and short scribbles.

October 1, 2009 at 6:28 pm

I love these tips, Dean!

There have been plenty of times I’m filled with inspiration, whip up the article or post, proofread it, and I’m done. I’ve had probably an equal amount, though, that I’ve fretted over for days or weeks before I finally hit send or publish.

Either way, I keep writing and trying to improve….

October 3, 2009 at 1:34 am

This is awesomeness – very often I start writing on a topic to no end. With an outline and framework and the facts right out, that would save so much time!

October 5, 2009 at 2:11 am

This is a wonderful advice I can use for my blog posts. Thanks for your time in writing your content. This will keep me coming back for reading more.

October 6, 2009 at 11:22 am

Thank you for all the good advice. I just started blogging and I agonize over each post. I’m a big edit while I write person too, especially when there’s no time constraint (I just edited this sentence). My friend told me it would get better with time, but so far it hasn’t.

I like the idea of a notebook, I usually leave tabs open when I come across something I want to write about, but then I end up with 20 tabs. Just to let you know though I checked out Google notebook and it said this, “Google recently stopped development on Notebook, which means it is no longer being improved upon or open to sign-ups by new users.

If you’re visiting notebook for the first time, instead try exploring other Google products that are still supported…”

Maybe I’ll just try a paper notebook, but thanks again for the tips.

November 1, 2009 at 3:40 am

Thanks for the tips. I’m sure that it’s going to help me a lot.

November 29, 2009 at 6:40 pm

Thanks for sharing. I find you article to be an relief for those stick in the mud. It start with a plan.

July 9, 2010 at 4:00 pm

Thank you! You saved my day today. This is the most useful tip I have found today. Something that I can use everyday.

August 12, 2010 at 11:14 am

Dean, I have been an English instructor for over 30 years, focusing on teaching people to write effectively and efficiently. Of course, any good teacher is also a good student and I have studied nearly every writing method imaginable.

You have hit the nail right on the head, Dean. Writing an article is much like composing music. You first get the melody down, the basic theme that everything is tied to. Then, and only then, do you go back and add the strings, horns and percussion.

Likewise, an architect lays out the entire exterior frame before placing the windows and the doors. A writer’s job is to write. Don’t stop to wash the dishes while you are cooking the meal. If you do, dinner will always be late.

October 2, 2010 at 9:42 pm

These are all good points! I especially find the last step tough, as, just like you, I’m always constantly rereading what I wrote after each sentence to make sure that it’s the best it can be.

However, several weeks ago, I thought through my writing technique and decided to just try writing, without any editing whatsoever or even rereading what I write. Well, it seriously worked. I read over the article after writing it to the end, and it didn’t look as bad as I thought it would! While writing the article, I could think of tons of errors or ways that I could rewrite something… but after I was done writing, the end result just sounded more natural. I’ve found errors here and there, but it’s a lot faster if you just write and edit later.

I still get a nagging feeling to edit when I write. Over time, I bet this nagging feeling will disappear as I get more used it.

January 8, 2011 at 2:31 am

Thanks Dean for such useful tips.

I’ll definitely follow them as I need to improve my writing skills 🙂

Cheers, Togrul

January 12, 2011 at 1:49 pm

Thanks for sharing. I just found this awesome page and cant figure out why so late… Matt

May 4, 2011 at 5:17 pm

Great advice, thanks. May I add my top tip for a fresh pair of eyes when editing? I always edit my work in a different place. Usually write the draft at my desk, but then re-read it on the sofa, in the garden, even in the car (but not whilst driving,lol!). Anyway, thanks again for your SPEED tips.

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Writing exercises you can do in 10 minutes or less

Writing is an art. Getting better at it requires lots and lots of practice.

Writing is a skill set anyone can improve with a bit of dedication, direction, and practice. The trick is figuring out what actions will truly help you become a better writer and which are simply a waste of time.

One of the best strategies great writers use for improvement are writing exercises — guided written activities that develop specific writing-related skills. The key is to choose daily writing exercises that align with your goals.

Writing skills

Writing is a skill made up of several smaller skills. A few that apply to both nonfiction and fiction writers are:

• Punctuation
• Conciseness
• Organization
• Idea generation

The best writing exercises focus on helping you improve one or two specific elements at a time. It’s similar to how athletes go to the gym to train certain muscle groups. Impressive performance is the result of targeted practice.

You become great at the big thing (e.g., writing) by becoming gradually better at the small things (e.g., grammar, style, speed, etc.).

We learn how to write well by writing consistently.

Below, you’ll find a list of 8 activities you can try, along with clear directions on how to start them, and short explanations of how each one will help you grow as a writer.

Let’s jump right in.

#1 Transcribe another author’s work

The desire to become a great writer often comes as the result of reading a great piece of writing. It could be a book, letter, speech, or an article.

Two questions generally come to mind for the aspiring writer: How did they do that? and How can I learn to do that too?

One of the best ways to learn from an expert writer is to transcribe their work. There are two ways to approach this exercise.

Directions:

• Get a copy of the material you want to learn from (e.g., book, article, etc.).
• Choose a section of the material, like a single chapter or a few paragraphs, to focus on.
• Option 1: On a physical notebook or sheet of paper, rewrite the text word-for-word.
• Option 2: On a computer, use a tool like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or Notion to type their content word-for-word.

This practice of transcribing their work will give you a hands-on experience of what their writing feels like. You’ll get an intimate sense of their style, word choice, and organization.

The more you engage in this practice, the more you'll adopt parts of their style as your own. But don't worry about losing your own voice in the process. This exercise will highlight both the good and bad in other writers' styles so that you can pick and choose the elements that make sense for you.

#2 Funnel real reactions into writing

The most difficult part of writing is having something to say. Many writers sit at their stations only to wind up staring at a blank page.

That’s because they haven’t yet understood that creativity is an input-output mechanism. If your input is empty from a lack of reading, conversations, and new experiences – then you’re output will suffer.

However, one way to jumpstart your creative output is by inciting a reaction.

• Find a news story, trending video, or hit song that stirs up a positive or negative emotion in you.
• Set a timer for 10-20 minutes.
• On a piece of paper or computer, begin reacting to the item. Try to write without any breaks until the timer goes off.

When writing out your ideas, feelings, and arguments, remember they don’t need to create a cohesive narrative. The goal is simply to reopen your mind and get the creative words flowing once again.

What you’ll often find is that your reaction writing will generate unrelated ideas you can use for future projects, and you'll leave the exercise feeling unblocked and ready to work on what's next.

#3 Describe an in-person setting

Whether you write nonfiction or fiction, being able to accurately depict people, places, and things will come in handy.

Similar exercises will encourage you to create your own settings and describe what you imagine in your mind’s eye. While this can be helpful to a small degree, it won’t help you capture the true details that bring items to life for readers. To do that, you’ll need in-person exposure.

• Visit a local coffee shop, museum, or similar location with lots of activity.
• Spend a few minutes observing your surroundings. No need to look for anything specific, just see what you end up noticing.
• Next, spend a few minutes writing down the most memorable elements in a bulleted note style. Aim to capture at least a few features for each sense: what do you smell, hear, see, feel, and taste?
• Later that day, write a paragraph describing the setting using the notes you took earlier.

The goal of this exercise is for the paragraph you write to transport you back to that place. A successful description is rarely an exhaustive one. Instead, it picks and chooses the most important parts that a reader needs to know.

For extra practice, show your paragraphs to your friends and family and ask for their reactions. Did it make them feel like they were there? If not, what could be improved?

#4 Try vocabulary builder prompts

There’s a good way and a bad way to use unfamiliar words in your writing.

The not-so-great method is to string together several large, scholarly words in order to impress your readers. Generally, this only serves to confuse them. A better way is to build your vocabulary so that you can occasionally sprinkle in interesting words that more accurately describe the ideas you’re writing about.

Moderation is key. This method keeps your writing accessible while also giving readers something to discover along the way. So, how do you build a useful vocabulary?

• Subscribe to a free service like Merriam-Webster’s word of the day or pick up a book like this vocabulary builder .
• Discover a new word each day.
• Spend a few minutes writing 3-5 practice sentences that include the word. If possible, try to include the word in another piece of writing you do later in the day.

Realistically, you're not going to remember 100% of the words you learn. Instead, the intention is to build your familiarity with uncommon words so that as you develop your writing and editing skills, you’ll become more comfortable reaching for these terms.

#5 Develop a freewriting habit

A lot of thought goes into most writing. There's research, planning, outlining, drafting, and editing. All of these are necessary. But, pushing all of these to the side, at least temporarily, can lead to surprising results.

There's a practice called stream of consciousness writing (aka freewriting), which tasks creators with the challenge of brain dumping their way into a piece of work. A common form of this practice is morning pages, an activity in which a writer fills up three pages as soon as they wake up in the morning, essentially clearing their mind of any mental clutter, so they're free to work on what matters most.

First, here are the steps to follow for a flexible freewriting exercise.

• Open a notebook or locate paper and a writing utensil; this exercise works best when done by hand, rather than digitally.
• Set one of two goals: either to fill up the entire page with words or to write until an alarm sounds (suggested time: 5-10 minutes).
• Begin quickly writing down any words, ideas, and sentences that come to mind. They do not need to be connected or coherent. The goal is to fill the page with whatever comes out.

Second, here is a video that walks you through the more specific practice of morning pages.

Engaging in freewriting is an excellent way to empty your mind to focus on the task at hand while simultaneously improving your speed at getting ideas out of your head and onto the page.

#6 Brainstorm multiple headlines

Just like writing is a skill made up of many smaller skills, any single piece of writing includes a collection of individual parts.

There are introductions, transitions, and conclusions. Different types of sentences aim to accomplish different objectives. Throughout any article, book, or other writing pieces, small changes can drastically change the tone, voice, and purpose.

One way to practice influencing these individual parts is by brainstorming multiple headlines. These can either be for pieces you have already written, plan to write, or for titles you’ve found online.

• Start with a complete title, whether it's one you created or found.
• Experiment with it by changing the words and organization until you have 20-30 different versions. The greater the differences, the more beneficial the exercise will be.
• Review your iterations and look for patterns that you can implement in other parts of your writing.

Headlines are a great tool to work with because they are standalone bits of content that can significantly impact meaning. As you improve at creating a variety of headlines quickly, you'll be able to apply the same skills to other parts of your writing, such as testing multiple introductions or conclusions.

#7 Edit other people’s writing

Finally, one of the most widely practiced and helpful writing exercises is to edit the writing of others.

Editing is a slightly different skill set than writing and requires creators to approach content with a more analytical lens. Instead of getting an article or chapter finished, the purpose is to make the writing better . Better could mean clearer, more concise, or more complete.

In some cases, good editing adds content. In others, it removes. It all depends on the particular project, paragraph, and sentence at hand, which is why it's a skill set every writer would benefit from refining.

• Find an unfinished piece of writing to edit. Online writers groups (like Foster.co ) and local meetups are a great way to do this.
• Start by reading the entire piece to understand what it was trying to accomplish.
• Next, add notes that would help the writer reach their goal. It's important not to only suggest how you would do it, but to try and put yourself in the other writer's shoes.
• Afterward, go through the piece again, looking for smaller areas to improve, such as grammatical mistakes and punctuation errors.
• Always positively word your comments. Writing is difficult, and a little kindness goes a long way.

Although you don’t want to edit while you write, because it will slow you down, developing the skill will unconsciously help you construct cleaner first drafts. Furthermore, you’ll get a better sense of how an editor works so that you can work well together and apply their notes more effectively.

The best exercise

Above all else, the best writing exercise is to create consistently .

As long you carve out time regularly to write, you’ll see your skills improve over time. Targeted exercises can help accelerate your growth, but they should never fully replace doing the work that matters most ( like writing your book or publishing your newsletter ).

The world is waiting for your words, so go get started.

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How to Easily Improve Your Handwriting Speed

Handwriting is one of those skills that you generally learn as a kid, and then never try to actively improve as you grow up. However, being able to write faster has some significant benefits, which are especially important for people who often need to write things by hand , such as university students. These benefits include:

• Increased automaticity , which lessens the burden on working memory. This means that you don’t have to actively concentrate on the act of writing itself, and that you can instead focus on thinking about what to write.
• Increased overlap  between the mental generation of output and the consequent production of text relating to that output. This means that you can write your thoughts down immediately as you are forming them, without suffering from a delay which hinders your thought process.
• Improved performance in various academic tasks, and especially those that require a lot of handwriting under time constraints, such as taking notes during lectures or writing essays during in-class exams.

Below is a collection of tips and strategies, which can help you learn how to write faster by hand. Some of these can be implemented immediately with no effort, while others require a bit of practice.

You don’t have to do everything that’s listed here; it’s fine to pick out even just one or two things that you want to focus on while writing. Doing this will require only a minimal amount of effort on your part, and will still allow you to gain a significant improvement in your writing speed over a short period of time.

Fix your handwriting technique

Improving your handwriting technique is a good way to improve your writing speed.

• Good handwriting technique involves using your fingers as guides, and moving the pen using your forearm and shoulder muscles. This allows you to write quickly, without tiring out or getting cramps.
• Bad handwriting technique involves drawing the letters using your fingers, moving your wrist constantly, and repeatedly picking up your hand from the paper in order to move it across as you write. These issues slow down your writing, and cause your hand to tire out and cramp.

How to get your technique right: in order to get a sense of which muscles you should use, try holding your arm in front of you, while writing large letters in the air. Use the guidelines above in order to see which technical practices you should follow, and which you should avoid.

Once you get used to these movements , try to implement them as you write on paper, while making sure to keep the technical guidelines in mind, and to check up on your technique from time to time as you write.

Maintain good posture

Maintaining good posture is an easy way to improve your writing speed, while also helping you stay healthy and feel more comfortable while you write.

To help improve your posture , you ideally want to be seated with your feet resting flat on the floor, and with your hips and lower back supported by the chair. At the same time, your knees should be flexed to approximately 90˚, and your elbows should be slightly flexed, with your forearms resting comfortably on the desk surface.

You should avoid slouching over the paper while you write, since doing this puts unnecessary strain on your arm, which makes it more difficult to write.

In addition, make sure to set the height of the desk and the chair properly, in a way that encourages proper posture , based on the guidelines that we saw above. When the desk/chair combination is set with improper heights, you will find that it’s more difficult to maintain good posture, which hinders your writing.

Hold the pen whichever way feels comfortable

Research shows that your grasp (i.e. the way you hold the pen in your hand) doesn’t have much of an impact on your writing speed. Furthermore, note that when writing for extended periods of time, it’s natural to sometimes vary the way you hold the pen, so this is not necessarily indicative of a problem.

Therefore, as long as you feel comfortable while writing, you can hold the pen or pencil whichever way feels comfortable for you.

However, if the way that you naturally hold the writing utensil feels uncomfortable or causes you to cramp, and you decide that you want to improve it, it’s generally advisable to go with the commonly used dynamic tripod grip, which is shown in the image below.

Using the dynamic tripod grip means the following:

• The pen should be pinched between the thumb and index finger, slightly above the area where the sharp end of the pen meets the shaft.
• There should be an open space between the thumb and index finger.
• The pen should be resting against the middle finger.
• The ring finger and little finger should be tucked into the palm.

Avoid gripping the pen too hard

People tend to grip their pen or pencil too hard, especially when trying to write quickly. The problem is that doing this slows you down, and causes your hand to tire.

The best way to avoid this is to consciously check up on yourself while you write, and make sure that you’re not gripping the pen too hard. It’s okay to hold it firmly, but you don’t want to be actively crushing it with your hands.

If you consistently correct yourself over time and avoid gripping too hard, then eventually you should be able to maintain the appropriate grip strength naturally.

Note that if you find yourself constantly gripping your pen too hard, it’s possible that you need to get a new one, that better fits your hand. You’ll read more about this in the next section.

Use a good writing implement

Using a good-quality writing implement that fits your hand properly can make a huge difference in your writing, without requiring much effort on your part. There are three main things that you should pay attention to:

• Thickness – pick a pen that isn’t so thin that you end up having to squeeze it tightly, or so thick that it ends up being uncomfortable to hold. If necessary, you can increase the thickness of a pen by putting a small rubber grip on it. The right size for a pen depends on how big your hand is and on your personal preferences, so experiment and find out what works for you.
• Tip size – pick a pen that has a tip size that you feel comfortable with (e.g. 0.5mm versus 0.9mm). Which one works better for you will again depend on your needs and preferences, so you should experiment and find out what works for you.
• Quality- use a good quality pen, that doesn’t require you to press hard on the paper in order to get the ink out. This alone can make a huge difference, and a good pen doesn’t cost more than a few dollars, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t just buy one.

Improve your handwriting style

You can increase your handwriting speed by making a few simple modifications to your handwriting style, and specifically by simplifying the way you write the letters. This means that you should try to get rid of excessive marks and styling, as long as omitting them has no impact on the legibility of your writing.

It’s also possible to modify the size of your letters, and in theory, if you decrease the size of your letters, you will need to move your arm less when you write, which should enable you to write faster.

However, this is not necessarily true in practice, and reducing the letter size might end up slowing you down, by making it more difficult for you to write the individual letters. Since this is also something that varies from person to person, you can experiment and see what works for you.

Use a shorthand writing system

Shorthand writing systems use various unique symbols, which can replace letters, common letter combinations, sounds, or frequently-used words, in order to save time as you write. You can either learn an existing shorthand system, or develop your own. Commonly used shorthand variants include Gregg , Pitman , and Teeline .

One of the ways to benefit from the use of shorthand without having to put a lot of effort into learning a full shorthand writing system, is to focus only on a small number of words which appear frequently in the language, such as ‘the’ and ‘to’. It’s relatively easy to simplify these words, and doing so can lead to a significant improvement in your writing speed, while still keeping your writing fairly legible.

Finally, keep in mind that the more you rely on shorthand, the more difficult it will be for others to decipher your notes. This can be either an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on your preferences.

Summary and conclusions

• Improving your handwriting speed can have significant benefits, such as increased automaticity, increased overlap between mental generation of output and the consequent production of text, and improved performance in academic tasks.
• There are a lot of things you can do in order to improve your handwriting speed, and you can pick which aspects you want to work on, as each of them will lead to notable benefits by itself.
• In terms of writing technique, make sure to use your fingers as guides, and move the pen using the forearm and shoulder muscles, while maintaining a good posture. Avoid drawing the letters with your fingers, moving your wrist constantly, repeatedly picking your hand up from the paper, gripping the pen too hard, or slouching over the paper.
• Make sure to get a good writing implement that is convenient for you to write with, in terms of not being too thin or too thick, and in terms of having a comfortable tip size. Furthermore, make sure that the pen is of high-quality, and that you don’t have to press too hard on the paper in order to write with it.
• Finally, in order to increase your handwriting speed, you can also choose to simplify the way you write the letters, or use a shorthand writing system. The greatest benefits of using such systems come from simplifying frequently used words (such as ‘the’), which saves you a lot of time while requiring relatively little effort.

Other articles you may find interesting:

• Handwriting vs. Typing: How to Choose the Best Method to Take Notes
• How to Improve Your Writing: A Simple but Comprehensive Guide
• Reflective Learning: Thinking About the Way You Learn

• Learning Tips
• Exam Guides
• School Life

Average Essay Writing Speed: How Long Does it Take to Write

• by Joseph Kenas
• February 15, 2024
• Writing Tips

Speed matters a lot when it comes to essay writing. Remember, you have to not only write a good essay but also to ensure you complete it on time. Therefore, it is very important that students master that feat but this does not come easily.

There are factors to consider, and most importantly, there is a need to know the average essay writing speed. Such knowledge will give you insight on how you can become a better essay writer.

What is the Average Essay Writing Speed?

Essay writing speed varies from one student to another. Some are fast writers, and others will struggle even completing their essays on time. However, there are different factors that cause such differences.

For instance, there is a need for students to carry out in-depth research. A good grasp of the topic is also very crucial. These are exceptional tips to essay writing.

In addition to this, lack of practice can negatively impact your essay writing speed.

Averagely, writing a 1000 words essay will only require 25 minutes. This is the case if you are typing it.

A handwritten essay will only take about 50 minutes for an average writer. Definitely, not every student gets to reach such writing speed. That is why there are fast and slow writers. 

Fastest and Slowest Average Essay Writing Speed

The fastest writers enjoy the luxury of finishing their essays right on time. In contrast, those who are slow have to struggle in order to put together an engaging essay. This is very costly since some might not finish their essay within the set time. It will take them about 16 minutes to write 1000 words for a fast writer.

These are writers who type 60 words per minute. Slow writers type 5 words per minute. This means for 1000 words, they will require 200 minutes. Completing an essay can be a hard nut to crack with such a slow speed. However, there is a way to increase that speed.

And that involves identifying reasons for the slow speed and adapting tips that will bring forth improvement. Proper planning and constant practising are crucial attributes to increasing your writing speed.

Factors Affecting Essay Writing Speed

1. planning.

Before you begin writing, there is always a need for proper planning. With planning, you get to note down your ideas and have an outline of your essay. You will use your outline and ideas to write your essay seamlessly. Unfortunately, some students ignore this vital concept.

They do not take time to conduct research on their topic. Subsequently, they lack the ideas to incorporate into their essay. This is a clear indication that the flow they need while writing an essay is completely absent, thus making them slow writers.

2. Practice

Practising how to write an essay is a vital attribute if you want to become a guru in this field. You get to familiarize yourself with what makes a good writer. And one of the very fundamental traits is a faster writing speed.

This also requires intense practice. You will be able to improve on the words you type per minute, and significantly your writing speed will increase tremendously.

On the other side, lack of enough practice will have a negative impact on your writing speed. Remember, practice makes perfect. Therefore, you will have a hard time meeting the deadline set for submission without it.

Besides, you can suffer from anxiety, which obviously distorts your thought process. You will not be able to align your ideas perfectly, and this will make you struggle to finish your essay.

3. Reading Skills

Reading and understanding your question is also an important attribute if you want to become a fast essay writer. Once you understand the topic of your essay, you will have an easy time writing your essay.

This is because you already have familiarization with the topic at hand. You get to know what the tutor wants then you create an outline that guides you while writing. 

4. Writing Formula

A writing formula refers to how you structure your essay. You can decide to have an introduction, body then conclusion.

Sticking to such a formula ensures that you already have a picture of what your essay will look like.

Once you start writing, you will simply not wander off this path. However, a lack of a writing formula will slow you down. 

5. Motivation

Without motivation, you will simply struggle to write an engaging essay. In fact, you might even take a long time before you start writing.

And that will slow you down big time.

Therefore, it is always important that you ensure you are in the right mood before you start writing your essay. Find the motivation you need in order to remain focused throughout the entire time while you are writing. 

Tips on How to Increase Your Writing Speed

As a slow writer, you can still make improvements that will be worthwhile. However, you will need to take up some drastic measures to become a fast writer. This means there are tips you have to learn by heart and constantly follow them to the latter. They include the following:

1. Write Frequently

Writing frequently will increase your typing speed. Practice ensures you familiarize yourself with the guidelines of essay writing.

You get to know how to structure your work and what it takes to write an engaging essay.

Besides, your typing speed will increase tremendously, courtesy of the many times you spend on your keyboard writing.

Therefore, this is a habit you have to adopt in order to flourish as a writer.

2. Conduct Intense Research

It will be prudent to do enough research before you start writing . The research provides you with the information you need to incorporate into your essay.

Once you gather information, make an outline of the ideas that are in line with your topic.

Use the outline to structure your essay then you can now begin writing. This ensures you do not pause halfway through your essay to think about what information to integrate into your essay.

3. Avoid Distractions

Distractions are bound to rob you of your concentration. You end up with an unhealthy writing habit whereby you just cannot finish writing a sentence without making unnecessary stoppages.

To avoid distractions, you need to switch off your phone, close unnecessary browser windows and disconnect your computer from the internet. You will get the peace of mind you require to write your essay devoid of any distractions.

4. Set a Timer

Setting a timer gives you a target that you can work towards achieving. You can easily avoid the habit of procrastinating since you have a challenge you intend to overcome. Also, there will be no room for wasting time.

You can find a digital watch or any device that allows you to set a timer and challenge yourself to write your essay within the set time. You can set different milestones as you go by just to make your writing speed better.

5. Proofread and Edit Later

Proofreading and editing your essay should always come last. It is important you first dedicate your time to writing and completing your essay before you begin correcting any mistakes.

However, if you choose to write while editing at the same time, you end up spending a lot of time. And that will obviously impact your writing speed negatively.

Proofreading and editing later ensures you have a well-written paper you’ll pass .

Essay writing speed is something every student needs to pay attention to. It plays a crucial role in ensuring you get to complete your essay on time. Improvements to your writing speed can be made through practising, researching, challenging yourself and proofreading later.

Joseph is a freelance journalist and a part-time writer with a particular interest in the gig economy. He writes about schooling, college life, and changing trends in education. When not writing, Joseph is hiking or playing chess.

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How to Use AI to Enhance Your College Essays and Thesis

With the integration of AI, the academic trends are gradually starting to leverage the AI tools to enhance the quality and efficiency of their work. From grammar correction to content generation, these digital assistants AI-powered tools have revolutionized the writing process by providing language editing, paraphrasing, and structural guidance to students navigating the complexities of scholarly writing.  

Amidst this technological revolution, Paperpal stands out as the go-to academic writing assistant—equipped with intuitive interface and comprehensive suite of advanced features like language suggestions to built-in templates, tailored specifically for academic writing. Paperpal streamlines the writing process, enabling students to produce high-quality, consistent, and academically sound documents with ease. 

Table of Contents

Language suggestions and consistency check (edit), paraphrase and contextual synonyms (rewrite), built-in academic writing prompts (templates).

• Why should students use Paperpal to enhance their essays and thesis?  

How to Use Paperpal to Improve Your Essays and Thesis?

Paperpal’s Language and Consistency Check feature is invaluable for maintaining uniformity and professionalism in your academic writing, whether it involves tables, figures, equation labels, word forms, data formats, or variations between US and UK English. By using advanced NLP algorithms, Paperpal streamlines the proofreading process, sparing researchers from manual effort and ensuring consistent styling throughout the document. This feature swiftly detects errors, preserving coherence and professionalism in your essays and thesis writing for research. 

Here’s a a step-by-step guide to enhance your essay and thesis writing for research with Paperpal: 

• Sign up or log in to Paperpal and open a new or existing document. 
• Go to the Edit section on the right sidebar and choose the first tab for Language or the second tab for Consistency . 
• Paperpal will generate suggestions and reviews for improvement based on the provided content, helping you refine your writing effortlessly. 

This feature enables users to enhance the clarity and academic tone of their writing by offering alternative word choices. By utilizing Paperpal’s paraphrasing tool, students can maintain the originality of their writing while enhancing its readability and effectiveness. 

Here’s how to use it: 

• Sign up or log in to your Paperpal account. Open a new document or access an existing one. 
• Navigate to the Rewrite section on the right-hand pane and choose Paraphrase or Synonyms based on your needs. 
• Select the content you wish to paraphrase, then click on Generate to allow Paperpal to produce an improved version of the provided information. 

Similarly, for synonyms, select a specific word for which you want alternatives. Paperpal will generate suggestions that closely match the given context and adhere to academic writing norms. 

Paperpal’s Templates feature includes built-in academic writing prompts, offering students a starting point for their writing tasks. These prompts cover various academic genres such as academic journals, essays, and theses writing for research, providing students with structured guidelines to follow. By leveraging these templates, students can streamline their writing process and ensure that their documents adhere to academic standards. 

Here’s how to access this feature: 

• Sign up or log in to your Paperpal account and open a new document or access an existing one. 
• Navigate to the right sidebar and select Templates . From the list of options, choose the built-in prompts that best suit your requirements.

Why should students use Paperpal to enhance their essays and thesis?

In academic writing, precision, clarity, and adherence to norms are crucial. Paperpal stands out in this category, with a range of advanced capabilities designed exclusively for scholarly writing. Here’s why students should use Paperpal to improve their essays and theses:

Writing Quality: With advanced grammar and vocabulary correction, precise rephrase suggestions, adherence to academic writing conventions, meticulous consistency checks, and invaluable writing tips, Paperpal ensures that your academic work reflects the highest standard of clarity and professionalism. 

Consistency and Accuracy: Ensures consistency throughout the document. Paperpal identifies spelling errors, verb tense issues, and offers rephrasing options. This feature acts as a virtual writing assistant, helping students produce error-free and polished documents. 

No Prompt Writing: Paperpal’s in-built academic writing prompts embedded with templates eliminates the need to write lengthy prompts to get academically aligned results. Students can use this time organize their thoughts and ideas more effectively.  

Consistent Learning: Paperpal’s suggestions come with in-depth reasoning that allows students to learn their mistakes and not repeat them. Instead of bulk correcting all errors in a go, Paperpal empowers students to achieve academic writing perfection over time.  

Paperpal has helped 750,000 students and researchers ace their essays, thesis, research papers, and more. Before submitting your essay, thesis, or an any other academic work, give Paperpal a try !  

Paperpal is a comprehensive AI writing toolkit that helps students and researchers achieve 2x the writing in half the time. It leverages 21+ years of STM experience and insights from millions of research articles to provide in-depth academic writing, language editing, and submission readiness support to help you write better, faster.  

Get accurate academic translations, rewriting support, grammar checks, vocabulary suggestions, and generative AI assistance that delivers human precision at machine speed. Try for free or upgrade to Paperpal Prime starting at US$19 a month to access premium features, including consistency, plagiarism, and 30+ submission readiness checks to help you succeed.  

Experience the future of academic writing – Sign up to Paperpal and start writing for free!  

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• What are Journal Guidelines on Using Generative AI Tools
• How to Use Paperpal to Generate Emails & Cover Letters?
• What are the Benefits of Generative AI for Academic Writing?
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AI + Human Expertise – A Paradigm Shift In Safeguarding Research Integrity

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How to Speed Up Your Essay Writing Speed by 2X? [100% Working Tips]

Table Of Contents

How to increase my essay typing speed your answer is right here, i can’t improve my essay typing speed. what should i do.

Are you slower than a snail when it comes to typing an essay? If ‘Yes’ is echoing in your mind loud and clear, then get ready to turn it into a big ‘No’ once you are done reading this blog.

Hello, students! The expert assignment writers at Assignment Prime are back to solving a problem faced by many of the students; viz., how to type an essay fast? In this blog, the professionals have shared some of the most productive tips and tricks that will transform you from a ‘snail’ to a ‘cheetah.’ Are you ready to hit the keyboard faster? Yes? Then quickly go through this writing piece and get the solution. Let’s get started!

There are times when the professors assign you essays having short deadlines. In such a scenario, if you possess fast typing speed, then it will save you plenty of time to invest in other activities like researching, editing, proofreading, to name a few. Thus, it becomes essential that you improve your typing speed. To help you with the same, the experts have shortlisted some of the best tips that will prove wonders if followed rightly.

• Slow & Steady Wins the Race: Improving typing speed isn’t an overnight game. Thus, start slowly and familiarize yourself with the keys while keeping a proper hand position. Keep yourself from looking at the fingers as you type the keys. Starting slowly will help you memorize the key’s position and eventually help in reducing typo errors.
• Get Into the Right Typing Position: Typing is not just about memorizing the keys; in fact, it’s more than that. You need to get into the right position to maximize your efficiency, and for that, the below-mentioned tips will prove helpful.
• Keep your back straight and place the laptop/PC on the table at a suitable height.
• Place your feet flat on the ground/floor.
• The screen should be 15 to 25 inches away from your eyes. This will save you from irritation and itching from the radiation coming out from the screen.
• Keep your elbow at a 90-degree angle and save yourself from exposing your elbows, shoulders, wrists, and arms to feel a little strain.
• Before you begin typing, examine the keys properly.
• Keep your left and right pointer finger on F and J, respectively. Moreover, the three fingers of the left hand should be placed on A, S, and D, and the fingers of the right hand should be placed on the keys- K, L, ;. Also, both the thumbs should rest on the space bar.
• The right pinky should be used to press delete, return, and shift keys, and the left finger should be responsible for pressing tab keys, caps lock and shift.
• Train your fingers to reach all other keys without looking at the keyword.
• Practice More: There is no alternative to practice. Once you are done with both the above steps, start hitting the keyboard. At first, begin typing phrases that contain all the alphabets, like- The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog .

So, these were some of the tricks that will surely help you to win the race against time. Bring these tricks into practice and see the improvement. However, if you still fail to do the same, then consider seeking assistance from the essay typer tool. Read the next section to know more about the tool.

If you are spending hours improving your typing speed and still can’t achieve it, then we have another option for you. You can take help from the essay typer tool, which is an AI-based essay paragraph generator capable of writing your essay in minutes. Basically, the tool extracts paragraphs from the online database containing paragraphs written by experts on various topics. So, as soon as you submit your essay tool, the AI algorithm kick-starts, and relevant paragraphs are shortlisted. Now, you must be curious to know the working procedure of the tool, right? Read the bullet points to know the answer.

• Visit the website and jump to the ‘Tools’ section to choose ‘Essay Typer Tool.’
• Here, you will be asked to submit your essay title. Enter the topic and press ‘Submit.’
• Now, the tool will extract a couple of paragraphs from the database that seems relevant as per the title. You can shortlist the ones that you find attractive.
• After that, you can keep on adding paragraphs till you meet the word count of the essay.

And, you are done! Your essay is complete without typing a single word. Furthermore, below are the advantages of using the tool:

• 100% Plagiarism-Free Essay Paragraphs
• Error-Free and Updated Information
• Proper Formatting
• Well-Cited Paragraphs

So, what are you waiting for? Quickly try your hands on the tool and get ready to score an A+ in your essay.

Happy Academic Year!

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English Typing Test Paragraphs

Stimulate your mind as you test your typing speed with this standard English paragraph typing test. Watch your typing speed and accuracy increase as you learn about a variety of new topics! Over 40 typing test selections available.

If you don't like a test prompt, you can get a different (random) prompt with the "change test" button - or select a specific paragraph to type from the list below. To find out how fast you type, just start typing in the blank textbox on the right of the test prompt. You will see your progress, including errors on the left side as you type. In order to complete the test and save your score, you need to get 100% accuracy. You can fix errors as you go, or correct them at the end with the help of the spell checker.

Personalized Feedback

This feedback graph will follow you from page to page for your typing session. You can see more details by mousing over the graph. The session is reset when the tab on your browser is closed.

Type this... CHANGE TEST

Test begins when you start typing..., check your wpm typing speed here.

To find out how fast you type, just start typing in the blank textbox on the right of the test prompt. You will see your progress, including errors on the left side as you type.

You can fix errors as you go, or correct them at the end with the help of the spell checker. If you need to restart the test, delete the text in the text box. Interactive feedback shows you your current wpm and accuracy.

In order to complete the test and share your results, you need to get 100% accuracy. You can review your progress for this session with the feedback chart. Just hover over a dot to see what your average speed and accruacy are for that key.

Letter Drills

A | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z.

Select a Specific Typing Test:

Click on a topic to use it as your test prompt. Selections are ranked according to difficulty from '*' (easiest typing tests) to '*****' (most challenging typing tests). For more details, check the difficulty key at the bottom of the page.

Short typing tests for beginners: (1 - 3 minute typing test at < 30 wpm)

• Virtual Assistant (38.4 words) ****
• Closed Captions (56.2 words) **
• Teachers (70.2 words) ****
• Business Casual (74 words) ***
• Paralegals (76.4 words) *
• Web Designers (77 words) ***
• Medical Transcription (82.6 words) ***
• Thumbing (83 words) ***
• Engineers (84.4 words) ****
• Translation (88 words) ***

Intermediate typing tests: (3-6 minutes at 40 wpm)

• Proofreaders (90 words) **
• Typing Styles (91.8 words) ***
• Typing Speed in WPM (100.4 words) ***
• Keyboard Shortcuts (104 words) *
• Buffer Method of Typing (105 words) **
• Transcription Service (107.4 words) ***
• Data Entry Clerks (112.4 words) **
• Hunt and Peck (128.2 words) **
• Touch Type (132.2 words) **
• Sales Methodologies (135.4 words) ***
• Invention of Touch Typing (147.4 words) ***
• Typing Speed Records (166.8 words) ****
• Comparing Typing Speed and Methods (169.2 words) ***
• Pharmacists (172.4 words) ***
• Editing (175.2 words) ***
• History of Flight (175.4 words) ****
• HR Management (177.4 words) ****
• Transcription Services (187.4 words) ****
• Motivation (192.4 words) ***
• Freelancers (194.6 words) ***
• Average Typing Speeds (195.2 words) ****

Hard typing tests for advanced typists: (over 4 minutes at 60+ wpm)

• Word Processors (203.8 words) ***
• Class Reunion Report (211 words) ***
• Financial Reporting (221.2 words) *****
• Biking Story (233.6 words) *
• Event Description (233.8 words) *
• New York Stock Exchange (234.6 words) **
• Career Choice Article (236.6 words) *
• Self Confidence Article (244.8 words) ***
• FDA Article (246.8 words) ***
• Competitive Typing (250.4 words) ***
• Academic Success Article (256.6 words) **
• Emotions Article (272.8 words) **
• MBA Article (276 words) ****

If you have a topic that you would like to see added to the list above, please feel free to contact us with your suggestion for a new paragraph typing test.

Typing Test Difficulty Levels

Our typing tests are ranked on level of difficulty. The algorithm to calculate difficulty depends on the average word length and how many special characters like capitals, numbers and symbols are included in the text. Most standard pre-employment typing tests will be in the normal range. You should expect to get higher wpm scores on easier tests and lower wpm scores on the more difficult tests.

• * Very Easy Typing Test
• ** Easy Typing Test
• *** Normal Typing Test
• **** Difficult Typing Test
• ***** Very Difficult Typing Test

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Typing Lessons

Take a typing speed test, learn to type faster and with fewer errors with this free online typing tutor.

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Train typing skills.

What if you could type as fluently as you speak? Typing Trainer web course will get you there!

Play Typing Games

Now the joy starts! Play our numerous fun typing games to become a true keyboard master.

TypeTastic for Schools

Discover 700+ typing activities for all grade levels - and unleash the joy of typing in your school.

Typing Certificate Now Online

A certificate has been one of the most requested features, and we're happy to announce that a test with a printable certificate is now available! The certification test consists of 5 minutes of typing predefined source text in English. Read more..

Join the Worldwide Typing League

Compete against other talented typists around the globe and show where the best typists come from. Each country has its own league and you can advance higher in the rankings by completing races and collecting points. Start the Race!