How I Write Three Articles an Hour

With a little preparation, you can boost your writing productivity too

I can’t touch-type. I never took typing in middle school. I can type reasonably-fast (faster than the average bear), and I don’t need to look at the keyboard often, but I’m a pretty slow typist as typists-go. I use the ‘backspace’ key like there’s something wrong with me.

My big writing secret has little to do with my typing speed.

What I can do fast is think of/know what to type next, before I type it. This is a skill I’ve developed over time. From writing 1,500 articles for an article mill. Then writing a dozen non-fiction books under a pen name. Then writing a daily small business email newsletter for three years. Then writing here.

You can do this too.

There’s a master trick to the process. Without this trick I’d never be able to bang-out three articles in an hour.

Mind-you this is my fastest. I can’t always create content so quick, but I am able to do this more often than not… and I use a simple method that’s worked well for me — for years.

You can use this method for any type or writing — long or short-form.

This method is really powerful. It’s not just about filling the page. This is a way to write well, fast. And come up with useful content your readers will actually read.

Ready?

How to practice ‘walking-writing’

The key to this entire process — to producing content faster — is all about the mental preparation you’ve done before you stick your butt in the chair. If you have to use your writing session for both your typing and your thinking session — you’re sunk. This is when the writing takes forever.

Instead, we want to reduce ourselves to stenographers (not that stenography is a low-level job or anything. This is not a dig on stenographers. Just an example.).

I want my writing to be a crank-turning, button-pushing exercise. I want the words to dump from my fingers before I have the change to self-edit. I want to get the content out fast, so I have time to do other things.

In walks, walking-writing.

Walking-writing is the process of thinking about your writing ideas in advance of writing them.

We’ve all got thousands of moments throughout the day, mindless moments, when we’re doing other things and we have time to think about our best work. This is the time to do your writing.

Don’t worry about forgetting an idea. You can always take a quick note.

Walking-writing isn’t about getting the content word-for-word. That comes when you sit and type. This is the process of uncovering the main points you want to discuss, the story you might share with your readers, or the sneaky plot-point that your readers will love.

When we walk, our brain does it’s best work. The creative part of our brain, the subconscious, needs motion for activation.

This is why it’s so hard to sit and be creative, but you think of some a-ha idea while you’re jogging, mowing the lawn, or singing in the shower.

The day before your writing session (or the hours before) use your mindless time to be mindful about your writing. Work through ideas in your head. Come up with 3–4 main bullets you want to address once you sit and type.

You’ll be surprised. If these ‘talking points’ are strong enough, you won’t forget when your ready to get the words on the page. They’ll just flow. You become the stenographer and not the creator. The rest of your day is for creating — while you’re moving.

You’ll get so much more written in a short amount of time.

Never run out of content ideas

I keep a working list of content topics in my phone. I never run out. When I need to think of an idea for my next content session, I scroll through the list, give my subconscious mind a little idea food, and off I go.

Your brain will work-on the stuff you put in it.

As you move, your subconscious mind will do it’s best job. You could be driving to work, filing TPS reports, or changing diapers. Your subconscious powerhouse is busy deciding if the butler killed your main character, or numbers five through ten on your top ten ways to wash windows article.

I recommend listening to a couple podcasts in your niche and few that have nothing to do with your work.

Your subconscious mind will combine multiple ideas together. You’ll hear successful interviews from people in different industries. You can take their ideas, combine them with ideas from your niche, and develop a new concept for your readers.

You need a daily diet of great content in to get great content out.

If you want to earn money from your writing, and you want it to be a real business — you’ll need an email list of people in your tribe. Email is the best way to write content once and have it work for you, forever.

This should be a list you own (instead of relying on social media or some other big-business platform). Tap the link below. Enroll in my Tribe 1K indie email masterclass. I’ll show you how to get your first 1,000 subscribers (and your next 1,000) without spending one hot nickel on ads.

We’re waiting for you.

Enroll in my Free Email Masterclass. Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers

August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. As a self-appointed guardian of writers and creators, August teaches indies how to make work that sells and how to sell more of that work once it’s created. When he’s not writing or thinking about writing, August carries a pocket knife and shaves his head with a safety razor.