Regardless of whether you’re a full-time freelance writer or some other type of creative freelance who needs to write their own marketing, the reality is in the online business world you need to know how to write – and quickly.
As a freelance writer, your income is directly correlated to output. The more you write, the more you make. As someone building an online brand, the more you write the more visibility you get for your business.
This begs the question – how can get more writing done in less time? In this article, I’m laying out some of my secrets that helps me get a tremendous amount of writing done in a short period of time.
Writing is a skill you can learn.
The first step to getting more writing done in less time is to realize that writing is a skill you can learn. The more you practice, the better and faster you get at it. The key is you need to actually sit down and do it often enough where it starts to become more second nature.
Have a place to write ideas down.
I don’t leave the house without my small Moleskine notebook. In fact, I always have a notebook near me at all times. The reason is because sometimes I get really good ideas for clients at very random moments – like when I’m grocery shopping or out with friends.
By having a place to scribble down my idea with some notes, I have something to work off of when it’s time to sit down and write for clients (or myself). Essentially, I’m not starting from scratch because I basically already have an outline written in a notebook. This alone helps me get more writing done in record time.
Try batching.
Another productivity technique that helps me get more writing done in less time is batching. Batching refers to doing similar activities in the same sitting. For example, I dedicate Fridays to working on my own brand and I only take meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The rest of the time is for writing and client work.
You can take it a step further as well. For example, if I have a client where I have to write a lot of content for them, I’ll block off an entire afternoon and get it done in one sitting. This allows me to focus on the one client and also gets me into a groove so I can get more writing done.
This is much more effective than trying to get my writing done in between meetings or checking emails.
Don’t aim for perfection.
There’s a common saying that goes “Perfection kills progress.” Many people get so wrapped up in trying to make their writing perfect that they don’t just get it done. The reality is there’s no such thing as perfect when it comes to creative pursuits (or anything for that matter).
Note, this doesn’t mean you don’t try to do your best. This simply means – as Elizabeth Gilbert puts it – that you need to get over the need to be perfect and eventually let the work go. If there’s anything that can help you get more writing done in less time, it’s forgetting about trying to be perfect.
Knock a draft out and focus on edits.
This next tip to get more writing done in less time builds upon the last one. Another great technique for getting more writing done in less time is to knock out the drafts quickly and then spend more time focusing on edits. This is actually something I learned from Carol Tice of Make a Living Writing.
She’s mentioned several times that professional writers know they just need to get a draft out. If you focus on that, you can get several drafts out in a relatively short amount of time. From there, you can go back and tweak it.
