How to write a blog post fast, Jane? I get this question asked a lot to me!
Given that content is the life blood of a blog, there is nothing surprising that bloggers want to write a blog post fast! I’ve searched for tips to write a blog post fast when I was a newbie and I can still remember that.
The title of this post might sound too fishy, since it is like promising something that is unbelievable. But trust me, writing a blog post in 20 minutes or less is totally doable.
The tips I share in this post will help you write a blog post in 20 minutes - the part in bracket - or less - comes out of practice. If you practice to write blog posts fast, you will surely master the art quite soon and yes you can then write blog content in less that 20 minutes.
So let me start with the tips you need.
#1 Keep a running list of ideas
This is very important if you want to quickly create blog content. It can be really time consuming to think about a topic to write about, especially when you are ready to write a blog post.
So how do you keep a list of ideas?
Set aside a specific amount of time every week to do keyword research and collect the keywords. I keep a master spreadsheet on my computer right at my desktop.
And I use a combination of Market Samurai and Long Tail Pro to get some really good keywords. Once I find a keyword that I am happy with I collect it with some other additional information like the number of global searches, CPC etc. on to the sheet.
Now, I write for multiple blogs as you might know - Problogging Success, Tech Buzz Online, Slick Wellness, DoSplash Blog, Best Hosting And Design Blog and so on.
I add separate sheets within the master spreadsheet for separate blogs. And for certain blogs I concentrate on CPC, say if the blog earns a decent amount via adsense. For some blogs I don’t care about CPC but only see if a keyword is hot and is searched by certain number of people.
Long Tail Pro comes in handy to put certain filters so you can chop off keywords that don’t have a certain amount of searches or if they don’t have a minimum CPC that you specify.
Whenever I have a short period of time I can use to write a blog, I don’t sit around and think about what to write. I simply open up the master keyword spreadsheet and I will choose any topic.
And since I write for multiple blogs, I find it really helpful to just choose a topic that I feel like writing at that time. If I am not in a mood to write a blogging related post, I can write a wellness tip or a tech tip - I got an advantage here.
#2 Do your research prior to writing
If you have the habit of using your early hours for writing blog posts, do your research the previous night and collect your reference material. And if you have the habit of unplugging the internet connection while writing, you might want to use Evernote. Have the Evernote Clipper extension installed on your browser (it is available for Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari and Internet Explorer).
And download Evernote app to your computer (available for Mac and Windows) or Smartphone (iPhone or Android).
Now everything you clip while you’re online will be synched to your app on the computer (or smartphone) - you will have the entire page clipped so you don’t need internet connection in order to refer to a related blog post or a Wikipedia page.
#3 Outline your blog post first
This is the best tip ever that usually helps me everyday to write more than 1000 words, consistently. Whenever I put up a working title for a blog post, I outline the post right away!
This is helpful in two ways:
(i) Usually, when you record a blog post idea and come back to it later, you might not get a hold of the initial matter you wanted to convey (this happens to me a lot! I wonder what that particular title has to do anything with my blog when I visit it a couple of days later).
(ii) Once you have the outline, you can simply start to fill out the bits inside every title - so your draft will be completed faster, without much effort).
#4 Do not attempt to write the intro first!
This is a biggie. I’ve been a victim of this style of writing. Whenever I used to start working on a blog post idea, I used to start with the introduction. And I’d work really hard to make it compelling (of course!).
Writing the introduction first will make you spend a lot of your time on thinking about how to make your readers read the rest of the post and how to make it promising. Attempting to do this first will slow down your writing process.
Plus, you cannot write a good intro without knowing what you will be actually including in the post (not what you thought you will include in the post while you planned to write it - there is a big difference).
There are many occasions where you start a post with a particular angle and you end up adding content on different angles and/or expanding the post (in ways you didn’t think of).
There are some people who can write the intro first. If it is you, great. If not, my suggestion is to stay away from writing the intro first.
#5 Focus on writing and writing alone
This might be a no-brainer but seriously, how many of us do this? This is one of the major factors that slow down most bloggers.
And this happens a lot when you try to research for a blog post while you are in the middle of writing process. If you don’t understand what I mean, read this post:
Why information overload is a BIG hurdle to your blogging success?
where I talk about how bloggers fall into the trap of getting side tracked and becoming overwhelmed in the name of “researching”.
This is why I encouraged you to do your research prior to writing.
And do I have to say that Facebook hopping, Twitter hopping, texting and other silly activities are prohibited as well?
#6 Set yourself a timer
This helps with writing faster and also helps you to keep yourself focused on writing and writing alone. When the time is running out, it is a really nice push to help you write fast.
You could use any online timer. Or you could use a browser extension. But if you are into offline writing you could use Focus Booster, an AIR based software that can work on Mac and PC. Or you can Google to find out any timer software that can help you stay focused and make you write faster.
When you start writing a blog post, simply fire up the software, and focus on writing so you can complete it in a given time frame - in this case, 20 minutes. And then start rolling.
See below my screenshot of Focus Booster while I started writing this very post (in Scrivener).
#7 Don’t edit while you write
This is one of the most common mistakes made by bloggers. Do not edit while you are writing, ever! This will slow down your writing process a lot and will also deviate you from your point.
In addition, you will be interrupting your creativity and the flow of words, which is really bad for your writing.
If you want to write a blog post fast, you simply have to allow yourself in the direction of the flow without giving yourself additional distracting work (editing).
Now you can write a blog post in 20 minutes
If you like this presentation, feel free to share it on your blog using the code below!
I hope I have given you enough tips (out of my own experience) to help you write a blog post in 20 minutes (or less, if you do it consistently and make it a practice).
I write a minimum of 1000 words per day - in fact, 1000 words are quite rare. I go well beyond 2000 words because I create content for multiple blogs.
I’ve never found myself stuck or stressed out in the name of content creation and I must say that these tips have helped me gain control of my writing.
So, I now challenge you to put these tips to practice and start writing your next blog post right now and finish it in 20 minutes!
Which of these tips did you like the most? I’d love to hear that!
