How to Write (Good Content) Fast

I wrote this in 45 minutes

How long should it take to write an article? An email? A blog post? A chapter in your next book?

If you’re spending hours at your desk…and they FEEL like hours, you’re doing it wrong.

Here’s how to write (good content) fast — and have it feel even faster.

Step 1: Get into Flow

Ever spent hours doing something — like playing a video game, and it felt like only minutes had passed? That’s flow.

You’re focused and in action. It’s a somewhat meditative state, where time ceases to be a factor.

Flow is focused intensity.

There are several ways to get into flow. Here are a few:

• You could go for a run, or do some other workout that requires you to focus on what you’re doing (breathing, keeping good form, etc).
• You could meditate, or do a simple breathing exercise like alternate nostril breathing.
• You could listen to binaural beats, or other wordless music. Some people like movie soundtracks for this.
• You could sit in a particular spot, wear a particular shirt…anything that tells you, “it’s writing time.”

One important thing to note here is this: The more you do something to get into flow, the better it will work for you in the long term.

So create a ritual that you always follow before writing. One that gets you focused and in writing mode.

Once you’re in flow, head over to your favorite place of writing and let the words out.

Step 2: Use The Right Method (for You)

So now you’re in flow, and you’re ready to let the words out. The last thing you want to do is to slow yourself down!

This is a bit “technical,” but take some time to figure out the fastest way for you to actually WRITE; put words on paper.

• You could write by hand.
• You could type.
• You could dictate.
• You could also record yourself and transcribe it later (there are apps and services that will do this for you).
• You could hire a stenographer ;-)

Maybe there’s some other way to write, but I can’t think of any more now. What’s important here is, use the method that is fastest for you.

Of course, you can always change things up. Maybe you type slow, but you prefer to type. So spend some time learning to type fast. There are plenty of “typing tutor” programs out there.

Or maybe you’re used to typing but you’d like to switch things up and dictate.

You will most likely experience SOME slow-down as you get used to a new method, but in the long term it will pay off.

Step 3: Get Out of Your Own Way

Since starting my daily habit of writing, and publishing here on Medium, I’ve noticed something.

Sometimes, my articles “feel” good. Other times — most times — they don’t. Sometimes, I look at what I’ve written and I think, “that is NOT my best work.”

I worry about how it will make me look. What if someone sees this one piece of writing, “my worst one by far,” and bases their entire opinion of me over it?

Maybe I’ve cursed too much.

Maybe I didn’t go deep enough. Or I went too deep and it’s a bit revealing. And scary.

Or I just don’t think it’s ready.

But I’ve got hundreds of blog posts from years past — when I first started writing online — and I’m certain they’re all way worse than this one piece.

So I’ve learned to get out of my own way. To just PUBLISH and let it be.

Hitting “publish” isn’t the only way you hold yourself back, though. Sometimes, you stop yourself MID-SENTENCE!

Your inner voice starts speaking up while you write. “No, I can’t write that. What will they think? What will they say?”

And instead of writing, you start editing.

Stop it. “Stop stopping.” Just write.

Get out of your own way and keep writing. You can always edit later.

Don’t stop the flow. Keep the words coming.

BONUS: Use Techniques that Get You in Action

My wife called me up at 4 pm and invited me to go out with her for an early Valentine’s Day dinner.

I looked at my computer screen. Facebook.

I thought about what I still needed to get done. Two emails. An SMS notification. A few other random tasks.

And this article.

I had 45 minutes before she got home.

And that quick deadline got me focused FAST.

(Because, sushi!).

Sometimes, I do my best work under a short deadline. When I’ve got just 30 minutes before I need to leave to pick up my kids from school.

Or 45 minutes to sushi with my wife.

Consider other things you might do to get focused fast.

If deadlines don’t work for you, is there some reward you could give yourself for finishing by a certain time?

Sugar works great if you’re into addictive poisonous substances. My mother-in-law is baking brownies downstairs and THE SMELL!!

If I were eating sugar these days, I would definitely use a brownie square as a reward for publishing this article.

If those two tips don’t work for you, something else will. So figure out what motivates you to get focused and get shit done…

…and use it to your advantage.

How long should it take to write?

The way I see it, as long as you’re in flow, it doesn’t matter.

Try some of the techniques I’ve listed in this article. Give them a week. Give them 30 days. Or just try them once and see how you feel.

My guess is, you’ll start writing more, writing faster…

And you’ll enjoy it.

If you have other techniques you use to get into flow, put them in the comments below!