Fast Track Your Article Writing Time
As writers, many of you probably write articles on a daily basis. Whether these articles are for article submission sites, clients, blog posts or your own niche site, you don’t need to spend hours writing them.
The hardest part for seasoned writers in my eyes is the tedious aspect of writing about the same subject. If you have a real estate blog for example, you need to keep coming up with fresh content that excites your readers enough to keep coming back for more.
However, this is often easier said than done and you probably already know that writing is most frustrating when the famous writer’s block sneaks up on us. If we are honest, nobody has enough information in their head to keep writing about the same topic for years on end. Many freelance writers are often plagued by writer’s block because all they do is write all day long. We all get inspired and gain new ideas by reading other people’s blogs, websites and everything else that is in print, both offline and online.
Sometimes all you need is a headline from your TV magazine to get your creative writing juices flowing until there is nothing left and before you know it, you just wrote a new article.
I love these moments when words just pour out of my head, right into my fingers. When I’m in the zone, I usually just keep writing until I run dry. I also don’t worry about spelling mistakes at that time and keep going because once I stop, my mind might freeze all of a sudden.
But in the other moments – when I struggle to find inspiration – I use a simple trick to write an article in less than 20 minutes. The trick is called “spying on the competition”.
I browse blogs, search engines and websites for ideas and once I found something that clicks, I simply copy and paste the article into my Live Writer and then rewrite the whole thing in my own words.
A word or warning: Do not get tempted to rewrite your article using the same words or even meaning as the original source, unless you are writing a news report from a press release and give proper accreditation to the source.
I only use these articles to fuel my inspiration and usually it is only a single sentence within them that gets my creative juices flowing. This is by far the fastest way to create content without duplicating or copying anyone out there and has so far always worked great for me.
Next time you get stuck, try my suggestion and see how you go. If you have some great article writing tips to share, please be my guest.
Monika
About the Author: I'm a passionate freelance writer and problogger. To further build my business I'm also in the process of building my own niche empire which pays me residual income.
Brett Legree | Nov 27, 2008 | Reply
Monika,
That’s a good technique, and sort of reminds me of what an English teacher told us many years ago. He said, for your first draft, just write – don’t worry about the words being perfect.
Just capture what you (mostly) want to say on paper, then rewrite it. So this could be a variation on that theme, and it works.
Thanks for the words today!
-Brett
Tumblemoose | Nov 28, 2008 | Reply
Hi Monkia,
Inspiration is fickle.
I do get some of my ideas from surfing around the net. I too, love those “A-ha!” moments. Ihave had it happen where I stop writing for a second to correct a typo and – poof! there goes the train of thought. I agree, write like crazy, go back and fix errors later.
Cheers!
George
Monika | Nov 28, 2008 | Reply
@ Brett: There you go. If your English teacher said this, it is worth something isn’t it? It works though and I’m sure you know that yourself.
It is always great having you here Brett and I cannot wait for my toe shoes to arrive. Woohoo…
@ George: Yeah and don’t you hate those moments when that happens, arrgh… I also started to do my writing in the mroning, after I come back from my daily walk. By lunch time I’m usually done with the brunt of it all and can then enjoy the rest of the day even more, plus work on my niche sites to get them stronger every day.
Kevin | Nov 28, 2008 | Reply
Good tip! I think setting the time is important too. When I was in school, my mind would be blank until I HAD to come up with something. That and writing in the morning (when the mind is more clear) seemed to do the trick for me and put me “in the zone” – it became almost automatic at that point.
Another tip that I’ve come across recently that might help… Often those moments of inspiration come when I’m nowhere near a computer or at a time when I’m not in a position to start writing something. Normally those thoughts would just go somewhere far off inside the brain – possibly never to be heard from again.
Recently I’ve been playing around with some of those note taking tools such as ReQall, Dial2Do or Jott (among many others), where you can call and leave yourself a note to be emailed or added to a to do list. This way you can recapture that moment of brilliance when you are ready to write!
Brett Legree | Nov 28, 2008 | Reply
@Monika,
I think that English teacher and one of my engineering professors went to the same school of thought, as the engineering prof used to talk of the concept of “optimum sloppiness” – something being “good enough”. Both of these guys were right.
Hey, it’s always great being here! Just wait until you wear those shoes out for a walk and you notice the difference in the feeling between pavement, sand, gravel, and grass. It is amazing… and yet, you don’t have to fear stepping on glass, as they protect you.
Though some folks think they are not much to look at, they really are a pretty unique thing and I hope I can always find something like that – if not, I’ll make my own!
Cath Lawson | Nov 29, 2008 | Reply
Monika – that is a really good idea. I do a similar kind of thing with fiction, except I’ll take a really excellent book and start typing it out exactly as it is. The idea is to get me used to writing like some totally brilliant novelist.
But actually taking someone else’s work and having a go at writing it in your own words, is a bloody good idea. Thanks.
Monika | Nov 29, 2008 | Reply
@ Kevin: Those are cool sounding tools you are trialing. However, they would never work for me and I should know, I tried all tech geek things before and always end up neglecting them. LOL.
So I stick to carting my Moleshine around with me. I like the feel of touching it and the ease of which I can carry it with me everywhere I go.
Like you I often get inspiration while I’m away from the computer. Especially on my morning walks. In those cases I should have some digital plugin in my head that just allows me to download my ideas directly to my laptop.
@ Brett: I’m going to flaunt them on my cruise in January.
For all I know I might be the only toe shoe passenger and come back to you with dozens of orders. Instant business. Hehehehe….
@ Cath: I see we think alike, even though we do this for different markets. One day when you have your book published we can laugh about this.
Brett Legree | Nov 30, 2008 | Reply
@Monika,
You probably will be the only one on there with those shoes – if you’re not, you must take a picture of yourself with the other person!
Hey… maybe you can be my “satellite office”! Those kind of shoes are perfect for where you live. Right now, where I am, I can really only wear them in the house…
Kevin | Nov 30, 2008 | Reply
Monika, that neuro-plugin sounds like the perfect idea! There has to be someone around the world that is working on such a device already – I’m sure it’s just a few years away from going on the market.
Monika | Nov 30, 2008 | Reply
@ Kevin: Yep I think so too. In fact I think technology is much more advanced than we hope top believe. I’m not sure whether you saw those new CNN computer screens they used during the presidential election campaign. These are way cool and allow us to pinch and roll and do all kinds of stuff without a mouse. I guess it is similar to Mac’s keypad.
I’m hoping we get stuff like that too in not too long a future date.