Everyone is different. I tend to start all organized and all with a nice outline but by the time I’m done punching keys, I look at my outline and say “what happened?” So, don’t get the idea that you have to be so structured in your approach. Just try different ways and see which is the best method for getting the words out.
If this was a Yahoo answers alike website someone would add “Hire a typist” 
but to get serious I would say that lll you have to do is to use the computer very often and to practice. I don’t use all fingers to type, but I still type quite fast. I’m sure you’’ make it.
I also rewrite many times, but I recommend forming new habits too.
Find a particularly annoying flaw in your writing style. Try avoiding it throughout the writing process. Continue avoiding it in the next article, then the next, then the next. Continue until you do not need to consciously think about avoiding it. Once you can instictively avoid it, find another flaw.
One writing flaw I had consisted of starting sentences with it-is. I used the phrase to build momentum so I could, afterwards, address the subject. Instead of “Unfortunately”, I wrote “It is unfortunate that”. Besides the two words “it is”, I also found a needless “that” following it. The phrase made me very wordy. I could’ve used the time typing them to address the subject. Article after article, I tried avoiding it. Today, I do so without trying. (I also fought against there-is, there-are, there-was, and there-were, among many other problems.)
Habits take a long time to form. You will not eliminate all flaws in your writing this way, so rewriting will always be a part of the writing process; however, it will reduce the amount of work involved with writing and rewriting. I saved the time of writing “it is … that”, “there are … that”, “there are … who”, “there was … that”, and so on and so on. I saved more time in not needing to remove those phrases. And, I saved yet more time in not having to rewrite words to accomodate their removal, such as changing “unfortunate” to “Unfortunately”.
hey, take it easy and remember? Practice makes perfect:)
http://wagg.it/blog/blogging/blog-writing-tips/
Play MUDs in college, that’s what got me my typing speed.
This is excellent advice. The thing is, writing and editing use two entirely different sides of the brain. If you try to do both at a time, there’s a conflict - and the odds are that the creative part, the writing, is going to get the short end of the deal because it’s much more difficult to come up with fresh ideas and fresh words than it is to tweak something that’s already there. Our brains will take the easy way out, if we let them. So, bash it out - get the words down - write as quickly as you can, just to empty out your head - and then step back and let your internal editor take over.
Don’t be sad!!
I type Slower than you…
I think this should be made into a sticky
What you say is a problem that also happens to me (and I’m sure lots of writers) all the time. And the solution is simple, just write what you want to write without caring if it sounds wrong, if you’re repeating words, if you’re grammar isn’t ‘excelent’, etc. This applies to everything you want to write like posts, novels, books, etc.
When you’re done you’ll be over with the hard part: actually writing what you want to say. After that it gets easier, just check all your mistakes, rewrite sentences, review your grammar.
My college professor taught me that, and it certainly has worked for me! Hope it helps you.
Hello Ruby-lang,
The best way to kill an idea is to edit and re-edit as you write I used to do that when I wrote fiction, I have a folder of unfinished stories as proof. I had to learn to work smarter when I started writing professionally. With deadlines and eager editors I just didn’t have the luxury of writing the way I had been used to. This is what I do now:
-
When I receive an assignment, I spend several hours researching the topic (almost to death) until I know it inside out.
-
I write out the keypoints and make a rough outline of how to write the article.
-
Then I write the first draft nonstop, freestyle. I just write and let all the words and ideas flow out of me. There will be spelling and grammatical errors but that doesn’t matter because no-one is going to see this but me. Pen and paper works best, no annoying red squiggly lines in Word so the temptation to edit as I write is gone
-
I let this draft sit for a little while, an hour or more, so I can return to it with a fresh outlook (time for this will depend on my deadline). Then I read what I’ve written and I make corrections. As I read, I get ideas on how to organize the article for the best punch.
-
Then I start to type what I’ve written into Word. I continue to re-word sentences and make corrections but it’s not a lot since I have done most of it at this point.
Work goes so much faster for me this way. If there are any more edits to be made after the 2nd draft, they’re usually very minor. And that’s it! I hope this helps.
Cathy.
Hello i am totally new to this forum…But i m 100%convinced with mr.danish muzaffar…that fast speed, less thoughts, more mistakes but normal speed,more thoughts, less mistakes. its like this only…
I think that once you mastered this work it would be faster than today…but it can take some time of practicing…so just keep doing it until you feel more confortable
I write my articles as if Im talking to a friend. Not really thinking, just “talking” thru text about how to solve a problem. i am to write ALOT fast. Then I usually walk away from it for a while and re-read it over again, but this time looking for grammatical errors and things like that. Then I upload it. Dont overthink it
I was actually having major problems writing articles/blogs as well. I wanted to reply on the above quote because it reminded me of an argumentative essay. It’s something that I learned in my 1st semester of English Composition, but forgot a lot of key points in writing in this style. After re-acquainting myself with the right formula, I managed to write a rough draft. After that, I picked it off sentence by sentence: Tweaking the ones I didn’t like. In the end, I came up with a good article that not only had good information, but something that others may be able to relate to. In the end, we’re all just a bunch of Regular Joe’s trying to enhance our skills to the point that it becomes 2nd nature.
Hello Ruby-lang,
I can see this is a very nice thread with a lot of good advices.
I like the science fiction field, writing here is tough, and I do not have experience.
So I tried to find which experienced writer was willing to provide a valuable advice, read it and practice it to see if this information works for me. I have found this I think it worth to read.
Best regards
joejac
actually when u want to write something just think about it. after that try accumulate all information and write down on paper. hope it is reduced ur pressure !
Even if youre a slow writer, as long as you have a unique and meaty content, i dont think its an issue
Practise makes perfect. The more you do it the quicker you will become. It’s not too much of a problem. It’s important to have a plan and know the key points you want to write about to start off with.
That might not be a bad thing if the end result is something brilliant.
In everything I do, planning websites, writing content, ideas for anything, I scribble notes and draw diagrams, re draw everything, re write it, make notes on my notes in a different color, write the real thing, make notes on the real thing in a different color, redo everything a dozen times. By the end I usually have something which is brilliant.
This is much better than spending 5 mintues writing a piece of junk with no thought that does not make any sense. Remember in writing, it is quality not quantity.
There generally is no secret technique to speed it up by a huge amount, because to create anything of quality, each word must be thought and each element analysed to perfection.
However there are a few things you can do, like create a process eg:
- idea and core goal
- quick spider map of critical points
- writing style and strucure brief.
- write it all
- read and rewrite
something like that should help perfect it.
also create a template page with headings and descriptions or something for drafts so you can print off copies and not have to rewrite/rethink each element of the process.