Monday, November 14, 2005

8 Tricks to Write an Article in 20 Minutes

One thing I notice is I tend to work until I am tired. Unfortunately when I work at my Ronson office, I have almost a one hour drive so if I work until 9, I don't get home until 10 and then need a bit of wind down time. Off to California tomorrow but back Wednesday. It sounds glamourous but its not. 10 hours of flying in 2 days.

On writing:

It takes me only 20 minutes to write a 400-500 word article. This article (that I wrote in 20 minutes) explains some of the tricks I use to accomplish this. I started thinking seriously about this when I started blogging. Blogging gave me a deadline (almost every day) and I did not want to spend more than 20 minutes each day on blogging. Many of my blog entries are actually less than 500 words so take me less time.

1 – I start with a list of ideas and concepts I want to cover. Usually I write this list in point form. For me, I do this the old fashioned way, with a pen and paper.

2 – I often “incubate” an article for a few days (that does not count in the 20 minutes). What I do is start roughing out some topic ideas then leave it. Because I have thought about it, ideas tend to come to me that I frequently add to my points. Of course I always carry a notebook for ideas.

3 – I often need to reduce the number of ideas that I cover. Sometimes they do not fit with the angle of the article or do not flow with the other ideas. Sometimes I have to give up a point to write a good article.

4 – Never save a good idea. When I know I have many article deadlines to meet(EG blogging), it is tempting to “save” a few good ideas for later. New ideas will always come so always give your best ideas.

5 – Develop tricks to get past writers block. One way I do this is ”warm up” writing. I just sit down and write for 5 minutes. This tends to help subsequent writing to flow. Another way I do this is to go for a walk, cycle or a run (although sometimes I think I might use this to procrastinate a bit too). Another trick I use is to make a game out of the deadline – say I will do it by X. Perhaps I am simple but this motivates me.

6 – Come back to it later. My best articles are written partly, revisited a few times, then finished. I spend the same 20 minutes, though only 5-7 minutes per session. Of course if the ideas are flowing well, I do keep writing.

7 – I often write 3-4 articles at the same time. Spending 5 minutes on one, 7 on another etc. When I am really in writing flow, this works well.

8 – One trick is using bullet points or numbered points as in this article. People seem to like this technique and it helps articles flow for me.

So if I can write so quickly, why don’t I write a few articles each day? Apart from the fact that I have a very full time job, writing is the easy part; coming up with the ideas is the tough part.

Ideas anyone?

4 Comments:

At 9:07 AM, Blogger Jim Estill said...

Robert

It is tough to get people to read any media. Blogs are no different. So part of your challenge is to offer value to those who participate.

I like the idea for you though since people can comment and create a discussion. You are also the master of media so I am sure you could create a following.

It is a public forum so anyone can contribute or watch what is happening. This is good and could be the value to the people who contribute.

You can also monetize it with links and banners if you get enough readers.

Jim

 
At 10:09 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great tips. I will have to try and use some because I can't even write one article in a day.

 
At 10:59 AM, Anonymous Dave said...

Hi Jim

Great tips.

Hope it's OK with you, I have swiped the article you wrote for copyblogger and put it on my blog at matterandlight.com with a link to you.

Prosperity

davethescribe

 
At 6:37 PM, Anonymous Renard Moreau said...

[ Smiles ] Damn. You're good!

2O minutes is the time I will take for the draft copy. However, the finished article usually takes longer; since it involves editing and proofreading!

 

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