I came across an article this week covering tips for writing faster, it said that COVID brought us more distractions that necessitated ways to work smarter—which I don’t deny. We were, for the most part, working with kids at home for an extended period of time and allowing more lengthy zoom calls to fill our calendars. For many, we were adjusting to working remotely for maybe even the first time. For us, those distractions weren’t new, at different times of the year, for the past decade we’ve had kids home and we’ve worked out a way to make that doable. If you’re ever curious, ask me what a “station” is. Our kids are experts at them and super self reliant when you get them started.
For me, learning to write faster wasn’t simply a COVID issue, it was an efficiency issue that preceded those mucky for years. No one has time to think of the perfect words before they start a document. For me, writing faster simply means getting started. Once you have words on paper you can always edit them, but without words on paper you’re just staring at your lack of productivity. Most of the time, getting started is the most productive thing you can do.
This particular article also honed in on a few other things, one that made me laugh and a few practical ones too. If you’re either struggling to get back in the swing of things after the Thanksgiving holiday or just eager to knock out a few projects before the mid-December craze hits, I hope this helps.
Here’s the article in case you want to read it in full, https://www.prdaily.com/5-tips-for-writing-faster/.
My top take aways:
Have more information than you need to write about, so you can sift through the best material at the end.
Make sure you know who to go to, to get an interview, quote or tidbit the fastest so you’re not waiting on someone to reply to an email for half a week. Reporters call these people “quote factories”.
Use the CRAP method (insert my giggle): Craft Really Awful Prose. Clean it up later. I totally agree with this. It’s my #1 tip.
New ideas are hard to come by, it’s okay to read and repeat. Not copy, make it your own. Scan content you like and repurpose it. Make the story relevant to your organization and be the expert they need their voice in.
Don’t forget the inverted pyramid—give the best information at the beginning so the skimmers get the important bits.
Good writing and fast writing can only come from (actually) writing. So, get to it. Don’t let writer’s block stop you from creating content. It’s like Christmas shopping, the sooner it’s done the sooner you can enjoy the presents under the tree and the less likely you are to have to fight the crowds and the traffic at the bitter end of the season. Grab some coffee and get to work, we’ll be with you in spirit, or we’ll just do it for you!
Happy Holidays!