Want to Write Faster and Earn More from Your Words Online? Lean In.
And here’s how
Okay, yes, pals and gals. I get it.
You want to earn from the internet, make millions from your words, fire your boss, and get to the faraway beach at Timbuktu and watch turtles passing your deckchair to your left to lay eggs.
Why not? It is a dream worth working for.
But that is the future. Not your today.
What is your reality today?
Earning $0.22 per article?
It sucks. Of course!
But.
We are missing the point. Really. It is not about the $0.22 that matters. Or $2.
The real question is.
How fast can you earn that $0.22?
Chances are… you have a day job right now
Your 9–6 keeps you going.
You ought to focus on it.
If you run your own business, hey, for f* sake. Go get your customers. Then referrals. Then, repeat customers.
All of these activities generate more than $0.22 per output. Get real. Focus. Think.
Writing online may generate money. But… and I think you [already] know… that this is a slow boil. Like Chinese stew soup. 10 hours of preparation gives you half a pot.
You don’t want to write like you are boiling soup. Don’t.
You have competing priorities. You have time constraints. You must bring home the cash bacon. And little Fifi needs your attention so she can sh!t at her favorite spot at the park.
And so, you must learn to write fast.
What I am saying next might be a surprise to you. Ready?
No, writing faster is not about typing speed. The result is a faster typing speed.
Allow me to explain.
1* Typing faster is the result of thinking faster
Brain first.
Fingers? Second.
That means we think before we type.
That means the faster we think, the faster we type.
Okay, look. I am not insulting your intelligence. I am sure you know this. But there is a bedrock of depth in what I am saying.
It has to do with our response.
Technically speaking,
- Our headline is the trigger.
- Our article body is the response.
Many online writers I know focus on their response to the trigger. Not me. I have my eyes on the trigger.
In short, to type faster, we need a good trigger.
It must be,
- A topic we can relate to (so we need not research to start),
- An opinion we disagree with (it is easier to spit out 750 words when we disagree),
- An area of work we are involved in daily (to inject real-life experiences into our writing).
If you have any of 3 as you respond to a trigger headline — You win.
You will realize that you are firing all cylinders. You ideate faster. You type faster. You prune faster. You edit faster. Your sentences are shorter. You hit the conclusion 20 minutes ahead of time.
If you hit all 3 in your next article?
Jackpot!
And watch out.
The next Superman online writer is ready to emerge.
2* On opinions
Opinions are underrated.
Everyone has opinions. You have. I have.
- Believe that billionaires should pay more in taxes? Lean in. Type.
- Believe that we should earn more and pay less in taxes? Lean in. Type.
- Believe that content creators are going to take over the internet? Haha, well. Lean in. Type.
- Believe that generative AI is going to kill all online content creators? Good one. Lean in. Type.
Your opinion(s), not ideas, on a topic is your writer’s jet fuel. Many people believe they need ideas to complete an article.
No. You don’t need a ton of ideas.
You need a truck of opinions.
Opinions eat ideas for lunch.
Remember that.
3* On writing quality
I am going to say something controversial.
Ready? Here goes.
You, me, he, she believes we are typing slower because we want to inject quality into our work. Okay, look. I am not going to debate with you what quality means.
Chances are, it is subjective.
Quality to me can be trash to you. I get that.
Let’s put that aside.
Let’s talk facts.
There is a limit to writing quality. We do what we can to present our best work online. Of course.
No one wants to deal with unnecessary critique.
“Oh my gosh, this sh!t for $15? I just got cheated by some online hell-of-a-hole again!”
But we must get real.
How much better can we be in a day?
No, I am not teasing you. I am serious.
Writing is like archery. It takes time for us to change from shooting with the arrow on the left of the bow to the right. Our fingers, grip, aim, and posture must adjust.
Writing? Same.
We trained ourselves to write more, write better, and express ourselves with our voice. We took months and years to get here. So, it will take months and years to break our current habits and to take on new ones.
Long story short, evolution takes time.
- Writing shorter sentences takes time.
- Using bullet points requires constant reminders.
- Creating punchy and clickable headlines takes daily practice.
Quality in writing is a life-long process.
Avoid confusing it with typing faster.
Typing faster is a matter of facing up to our time constraints. We got sh!t to do. I have client meetings to attend to.
I have 40 minutes now.
What can I write?
Our obsession with quality can hold us back from writing when we are short of breath. Or time.
Focus.
Choose one.
Speed or a higher degree of writing quality?
I love to tell you that we get to have our chocolate cake and eat it. I would love to.
But as we all know, 24 hours a day is our ultimate reality.
We don’t have all day to write.
I encourage you to embrace continuous improvement. That quality should be baked into your articles. That said, be flexible. Trust the inner speed demon in you.
Especially when you are left with 10 minutes before a call with your client…
The close
I am a simple guy.
I embrace direct effort in writing.
Here’s why. I know what the ugly truth is. Online writing does make us some money. No doubt about it.
But it is a slow burn.
We are more likely to earn $0.22, $2.00 per article, within the repository of our work. Only a select few sail past the $100 mark.
Question.
- Does it make economic sense to make $0.22 in 90 minutes? Or,
- Generating $0.22 in 50 minutes?
The answer is as clear as day.
Lean in.
Type faster.
Earn faster.
You want to achieve your online writing goals faster, don’t you?
Article inspired by Sarina Chiu
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