Over 2 million blog posts are published every single day.
Niches that were once open for the taking grow more and more competitive.
Not being able to keep up with the vast amount of content that is published on a regular basis can leave your business high and dry.
But slapping together a quick 500-word article doesn’t cut it anymore.
You already know this, and I won’t waste your time spewing the same old garbage you find syndicated across the internet.
To beat your competitors, build subscribers and vastly expand the amount of long tail keywords you rank for, you need to regularly publish long form content that is spectacular.
And that is exactly what you will be able to do after reading this article.
Today, I’m going to show you a host of practical techniques that can drastically improve the rate at which you write even if you hate writing.
Phenomenal Results from Regularly Publishing Blog Posts
Marketing is pivotal for building traffic and subscribers. But, imagine for a second that you were able to produce in-depth articles in half the time you usually do without having to sacrifice your marketing system.
Heck, imagine that you were able to publish this kind of content 5 times a week.
The results? Well, you can judge for yourself.
Petar reported an 817% jump in his website total visits at the end of a 30-day blog challenge.
Stan from PushingSocial.com shared the results of his 5 days a week publishing experiment and experienced a +171% increase in unique visits and a +212% jump in pageviews in just 2 weeks.
Jackie Nagel from Synnovatia shared the following results from his 30-day blog challenge:
- Website visits increase by 101%
- Unique visits climbed by 86%
- Number of page visits went from 2.11 to 4.48
- Time spent on the site rose from 2:16 to 3:08
- Bounce rate dropped 8%
- Returning visitors increase 7%
- Blog subscribers increased 27%
- Number of leads generated increased 150%
Clearly, publishing more high-quality content on a regular basis creates better results.
Which is why I want to show you how any writer, regardless of experience, can write up to 2359 words in two hours.
We’ll go over how to construct a stellar article that reader’s love followed by the techniques you can use to drastically speed up your writing speed.
You can go from publishing one or two articles a week to publishing daily. The results you can achieve from this could be phenomenal.
Writing Is Not Difficult
On the contrary,
Writing is simple.
You do it all the time. Almost everyone is on social networking sites and instant messaging apps.
Every time you comment on someone’s post, post a status update, tweet and so on, you are essentially writing.
Do you struggle with that?
No.
So, why is it that you struggle to write on any other occasion? Why isn’t it as easy to write a blog post as it is to write a tweet or Facebook status?
The reason for this is a lack of information and critical thinking.
Technically speaking, writing is easy if you have all the information on hand.
What’s actually difficult is thinking critically and drawing a picture of direct and indirect ideas that makes your article awesome.
The first and most crucial step is to research properly. You need a proper understanding of the technical side of articles and how to structure them. Doing so will drastically improve the time you spend on writing.
You need a proper understanding of the technical side of articles and how to structure them. Doing so will drastically improve the time you spend on writing.
Also, I understand that everyone, including myself, can’t master a topic overnight but we sometimes need articles completed as soon as possible. What I’ve done is put together 5 questions that I use time and time again to find the kind of information that enables me to write a high-quality article.
Start by asking these 5 essential questions:
- What are the problems people face?
- Why do they have these problems?
- What can I do to solve these problems?
- Who can benefit from my article?
- Where can I find answers?
Let’s use this article as an example.
I asked myself all these questions and searched for answers. What I discovered is that bloggers, authors and marketers have a problem creating high-quality articles quickly.
Furthermore, they face this problem due to a lack of experience writing and time constraints.
As a writer, I have techniques that can be used to solve these problems so I can write an article detailing techniques that are effective for writing faster.
To find more information, I have to analyse and research other writers who specialize in writing.
Four Things Reader’s Devour
The next thing to do is compile a document with only essential information. What this entails is to copy down all the facts without the fluff.
1. Statistics – The more hard facts you can provide, the more your reader’s will be impressed.
In ancient times, the most respectable of men after the king was he who possessed the most knowledge. Facts and statistics are ingrained in us from a young age.
Providing information that is backed with statistics improves your authority on the subject and trustworthiness amongst readers and customers.
2. Expert Opinions – People like to follow.
We actively search for experts in different aspects of life and absorb all the lessons we can learn from these astute individuals.
When writing an informative blog post, aside from your own opinion on the statistics, you want to gather as much expert opinions and advice on the topic for your readers.
You can actively seek out an expert on social networks OR search for pre-existing advice already shared in books or articles.
3. Bite Sized Concepts – Less is sometimes more.
People are of the assumption that writing a 1500+ word article requires you to talk on every possible idea or principle under the sky.
That’s simply not true.
When you provide too much information too fast, people suffer from information overload and leave your website.
If I were to write an article about kidney stones, instead of me focusing on every single detail related to how the kidney operates, I could simply state all the facts as to how they develop, symptoms, treatments as well as alternative treatments as a bonus that are of significance to the reader.
You must pick and choose information and then structure them into compact paragraphs.
4. Personality – Human beings are susceptible to influence through certain features in writing.
I like to speak out loud when I write because my articles begin to sound like me.
They become an extension of me.
Reader’s love this.
When they can identify with the writer, they build a rapport and start supporting your work in any way possible.
For instance, they comment on the information, share your work and even link back to you. Sooner or later, when your personality becomes expertly associated with a particular topic, people will be reaching out to you for expert opinions.
Tell stories, express your feelings, share your thoughts and state your opinions. These are all things that impact the quality and tone of an article.
Essential Writing Tips
1. Crafting Proper Headlines
First of all, headlines that are boring usually never do justice to a well-written article. Granted, it takes time. Even I don’t nail headlines on the first try.
However, the more information you possess, the better you become at identifying topics that grab interest.
If you visit leading marketing blogs like Copyblogger, you’ll find that they dedicate special time just for cracking a headline.
You should be doing the same.
For your convenience, I’ve listed the following types of headlines that work today:
- Statistical Headlines, Lists And Case Studies – 17 Ways to Increase Website Traffic by 419.16% in 90 days Without Paid Marketing [Case Study]
- Clickbait Headlines – Selena Gomez goes underwear free again in low-cut black semi-sheer dress on final day of Paris Fashion Week (Dailymail)
- Tutorial With Result Headlines – How I more than doubled my hair growth
- Reasoning Headlines – Why every father should bring his toddler out for a mini adventure
Always keep in mind that headlines rehash a question people want to be answered.
Google is a ‘SEARCH’ engine.
No one is searching for answers they already have. So, at the core of every headlines is a question being strategically asked!
As a rule of thumb, analyse the top 5 headlines for a keyword on Google and let them be a guideline for your headline.
Darmawan’s note: Danavir from CopyMonk recently published a guest post about a 3-step formula to write headlines. I highly recommend you to read this guide:
The 3-Step Bulletproof Formula To Writing Kickass Blog Post Headlines
2. Write In Segments Using An Outline
Before you even begin working on your introduction or body, break down your article into the top ideas requiring discussion and write them down sequentially. This is known as outlining.
For this article, my page started off looking like this:
Having this outline allows me to write in segments.
What this means is that I don’t necessarily start with the introduction. I start off with the segment of the outline I understand best.
Once I find my groove, I’m able to draw inspiration to tackle harder segments such as the introduction and technical sections.
When I’m done, I strike off an item on the list. Mentally, you’re processing the fact that you are making progress. At this moment, I tend to enter the zone and writing becomes almost fluid like.
This is how my outline looked about 40 minutes into writing:
I strongly advise you to first write the segments you consider easiest and work your way up to the harder segments and concepts because by then you will have enough momentum to push through and work smarter.
3. Write Musically
I was referred by a fellow writer a few years ago to a piece on writing that touched on the matter of sentence length.
The author suggested writing as if you were creating music.
Instead of crafting a paragraph of text that was the same length, he encouraged writers to craft varying length of sentences, from short to long and long to short. It made reading more enjoyable for the reader. That’s the ultimate goal. Making dreadful topics fun to read.
This can be applied to every facet of writing.
You could start an article like a narrative and guide it into a factual piece. You can jump from light-hearted banter to seriously controversial. Paragraphs can vary in length and sections can range from short to long in no particular order.
All that matter is whether your final product reads like the sound of music.
Is there a science to writing?
Perhaps.
But, what I do know for sure, is that writing can be as flexible as a rubber band.
You can craft it in many ways as long as it achieves one essential goal – It transfers your ideas to the mind of the reader’s in the most effective and simplest way possible.
4. Be Conversational
Look, I’m talking to you directly.
I am teaching you things that I have learnt as a fellow man. I don’t place myself in an unapproachable position nor do I talk to you as if you are dumb.
I disapprove of bloggers who teach other bloggers to write for people as if they are dumb.
People like you are not dumb. The fact that you are reading an article about topics like marketing and SEO is a testament of your desire to be smarter.
You wouldn’t even be interested in this article right now if you were dumb.
When you write, picture the reader as a friend who you respect and is relying on you to explain an important concept before an examination.
If you do a good job of passing your secrets, techniques and advice onto your friend, his chances of passing the exam increase drastically. In the future, he’ll approach you over others and will be more than willing to help you out or give you remuneration for your assistance.
Be professional, yes. Avoid cuss words, don’t use racial slurs or insult your reader’s intelligence. But, in all your professionalism, be conversational and caring like a friend would and you’ll start writing in that manner too.
It’s a fantastic way of building rapport. And we are well aware of the fact that rapport affects conversion rates. A salesman makes more sales to people he or she can build a connection with.
Thus, directly speak to the reader as I have done throughout this article.
Techniques That Will Double Your Productivity As A Writer
Onto the juicy part of this article. There are 3 techniques I have practiced religiously since becoming a professional writer.
Believe me when I say that way back when I started writing online, my word count for an hour sat at 500 words.
Heck, I used to type with my index fingers.
At this point in time, my current typing speed is at 69 words per minute. I have mastery over the keyboard and I seriously don’t even look at the keys but the screen when I type.
You can use this tool to test as well as improve the speed at which you type.
Nevertheless, let’s go through the techniques that have completely transformed the way I work and write.
1. The Pyramid Technique
When writing an article, imagine a pyramid. At the peak is the highest point and the lowest point is the foundation.
Writing non-fiction is like building a pyramid in reverse.
You start with the peak and work your way down to the bottom.
What I mean by this is that you should start your article with the main idea/climax and break it down into the finest of details.
It sounds confusing, I know.
But, scroll up and analyse how this article follows the pyramid technique.
The headline or main idea of the topic is to write 2539 words in 2 hours. I started you off at the peak and I worked you down to the foundation which contains the strongest and detailed account of information.
As the article progressed (as you worked your way down the pyramid), you were exposed to more content and more intricate details.
When writing Fiction, it’s the opposite.
You start from the bottom and provide all the details until you reach the peak and reveal the main idea or climax of the entire story. For instance, Harry Potter defeats Voldemort or Nemo is found and returns home with his father and Dory.
Start by highlighting the result or climax and work your way down to more intricate concepts. As you get further into the article, focus more on those concepts and teachable information that readers truly want to know.
Give them a deeper look into how they can actively solve the problem your article focuses on.
2. The Feynman Technique
During my research phase and again during the writing stage, I practice something known as The Feynman Technique.
Essentially, you break down a difficult concept into its simplest form and learn step by step until you have a thorough understanding.
You don’t move onto the next step until you master the current one.
This is an extremely important and effective way for writer’s to absorb useful and relevant information on any number of topics and break it down into bite-sized chunks for themselves and readers to understand.
When you’re writing and trying to teach something complicated, start by answering a basic and fundamental question about the topic. When you do, move onto asking several other questions that are related.
Provide answers to all those questions and repeat.
Do this over and over again until you create a masterpiece that breaks down something that is dreadfully complicated into a simple and easy to understand guide.
I like to imagine the reader leveling up from a beginner to an expert over the course of an article. I want them to leave with an abundance of information at their disposal that they didn’t possess prior to reading my work.
This is the kind of mindset that propels a learning writer into a teaching writer or a budding writer into an expert writer.
As we discussed earlier, writing is easy if you have a proper understanding of the topic and source material. This technique is what I use to understand any difficult topic well enough to write long-form articles with ease.
A sister technique is known as Visual Mapping which requires you to compile all your ideas onto paper into the form of a mind map or spider diagram.
Combine these 2 techniques together by breaking down concepts into their simplest forms and construct them into a mind map.
It makes writing a hell of a lot easier when you have something visual and physical as a reference.
3. The Pomodoro Technique
In recent times, the Pomodoro technique has caught on like wildfire and people all over the net are boasting about the impressive results they’ve achieved with it.
Ryan Casey reports being able to write 5000 words in a day using the Pomodoro technique whilst Chris Winfield was able to get 40 hours of work done in 16.7 hours.
By working in 25 minutes sessions, you can eliminate burnout, work smarter and faster whilst controlling distractions.
It is the psychological response to working under a set deadline that enhances performance. I’ve experienced this on multiple occasions.
During my years as a budding law student, I had to work under strict deadlines and found that under those circumstances I was able to accomplish most of my goals.
As a full-time writer I’ve encountered the same predicament.
Loads of content to sort through with uncomfortably tight deadlines. It was during those wee hours of the morning when my deadline was creeping in quickly was I crushing it and writing superbly fast.
Also, it is the prospect of taking a break at the end of a countdown and enhances performance and pushes you to work faster.
During a Pomodoro session, you block out any distractions and you focus only on the task at hand. In this case, it’s writing.
- Write for 25 minutes straight without stopping
- Take a 5 minute break
- Jump right back into another 25 minutes session
I like to include a word count goal with each session. It stresses me out a tad bit but also forces me to enter a state of focus that is beyond anything I can describe.
Try This Activity: Set aside two Pomodoro sessions every day for a week to write about your life. Everything and anything that comes to mind. Just write as fast and as efficiently as you can.
I guarantee that by the end of the week, you would have not only increased the speed at which you write but you will have written more words in that 50 minutes than you ordinarily would.
The point of this activity is to establish what you’re truly capable off writing under better circumstances and with access to enough information.
I suggest downloading the app Brain Focus Productivity Timer for Android. It will allow you to track all your sessions, total hours spent working and a bunch of other things.
Wrapping Up…
Any and all skills can be improved and mastered through conscious practice. Being able to write 2539 words in two hours is more than achievable.
Use the techniques mentioned in this guide and let me know how well you do with writing.
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