Ever feel like you just can’t seem to find the time to say what you want to say? This can be especially true when it comes to writing, whether that’s emails, notes, articles, books, or what have you. Learning to write faster in a fundamental skill that will help you in every walk of life.
Oh and before I get too far into this, I want to drill it into your head that writing faster does NOT mean writing worse. Speed has nothing with your ability to get quality work out. Often times, you can correct the little things that cause issues in the editing phase that would normally be considered the main factor for making a written piece of work less than awesome.
I just want to make sure you get it out of your head that writing fast is bad. Is is NOT! Writing fast is a skill and does not directly correclate with quality. Now on with the point!
In this article, a gracious reader and champion for life-change was kind enough to do a little question and answer interview survey with me. I don’t claim to be the best interviewer in the world, but I do promise some good, raw, and honest answers from normal people like you and me. I do my best to NOT filter these answers, except for the bad words and hateful speech (which of course doesn’t happen often).
With that little blurb out of the way, let’s dive right into the content!
Today’s Topic: Writing Faster (Round 3)
‘R’ = Richard N. Stephenson (me!)
‘I’ = Interviewee (anonymous by request unless otherwise noted)
[This interview is inspired and fueled by research done for my book: Quick Content Formula.]
R: Describe what writing faster means to you.
I: It means being able to form ideas and transfer them to paper in an efficient amount of time. In terms of writing on a computer it means being able to type quickly above 55 words per minute. The main objective is being able to think and write in synch to produce quality writing. Writing fast with no quality is not effective in solving real life solutions.
R: Describe how writing faster would be useful to people looking to change their lives/careers.
I: The faster I can write a personal cover letter, the faster I can submit them and the more likely I could be to receive an chance at an interview. The faster I can write articles for an article content factory, the more money I can make. The faster I blog on multiple sites I maintain, the faster I can increase traffic to those sites and, in turn, increase money in my pocket. I don’t do the multiple blogs thing now simply because I can’t write quickly enough. If I were to speed my writing up, switching to a massive blog maintainer career would definitely be a change.
R: Give an example of writing faster being used that has inspired you (from either internet/mainstream media examples or personal examples).
I: I love to read and write, it’s just something I enjoy doing. As an avid fictional writer; better quality writing has always made me feel more inspired and motivated to work on my own creative endeavors. I can also recall what I read when I have to do work that is a bit more boring; and I tend to feel uplifted and happier. If something is written too quickly, or I feel it is sloppy and unorganized; I tend to skim through it and not pay as much attention. Writing like that is very forgettable.
R: How do you think a better understanding of writing faster would help other people in their personal or professional life?
I: Understanding writing faster would be helpful n personal and professional lives because time saved is money earned. If an article can be read in five minutes instead of ten minutes then that allots more time to perform other duties. Understanding of writing faster means that there is less passive time spent reading and more active time is spend getting chores done around the house, for an example.
R: Give an example of how writing faster has helped you professionally or personally.
I: Professionally it has helped me with taking cake orders at work. The people on the phone usually speak quickly without worrying about the person taking the order being able to actually write down all the information easily. Writing quickly means that I do not have to ask the people to repeat things multiple times. Being able to write the orders quicker and not have to ask the person to repeat themselves means that I am able to have more time for the other tasks that I have to do.
R: Describe at least one way you think writing faster could cause trouble or hurt someone in their personal or professional life.
I: People are sensitive to what is getting written about them and one has to be careful about the content they produce if it seems to be relevant to someone who is not that receptive. Libel is a legal charge so what is writing about someone’s personal life has to have public relevance. People feelings are easily hurt if writing faster is directed at them so one has to be careful about producing content.
R: Give an example of how writing faster has hurt you or caused you trouble in the past.
I: Writing faster decreases accuracy and impact of the material. Sometimes chosen words takes more forethought than what we want to put in the time for. When I was in the hurry in the past I do not plan out my writing and in the end I end up with a loose frazzle pages of an essay.
R: How do you think writing faster could help you in a professional setting? Why is that?
I: Some jobs require that you write fast, for example if you are taking notes/minutes for your boss during a meeting, the ability to write fast will make that task less challenging. This is because you do not have to constantly be playing ‘catch-up’ if you are lagging behind in writing as your boss moves from one topic to another, there is less chance of getting lost while transcribing notes. Additionally your fast writing skills will make it easier for you to attain other positions that could require similar skills (ex. court reporters).
R: Give an example of how writing faster could be useful at work. Why do you think this?
I: Writing faster could be useful at work because plans of action has to be edited. If the writing is done at a faster pace, the finished product would be available sooner. Writing faster is a sign of working smarter and harder that is useful at work especially a lot of rewrites are necessary.
R: How do you think writing faster could help you at home? Why is that?
I: I would spend less time doing tasks that include typing. These are a lot of things, such as this task, emails, reports, searches, and anything else. It would help save time. I am assuming that this means typing, not writing longhand. I do not think writing longhand would really help me.
R: Give an example of how writing faster could be useful at home or in family life. Why do you think this?
I: Writing faster at home would be useful in the amount of time it could save, writing lists of tasks faster, recipes, etc. I am often writing down things for my wife or mother-in-law, and in the mother-in-law’s case the directions need to be very specific and detailed. I have written a full page description on how to use the tv/remote/electronics, and writing faster would let me get these menial tasks done faster and leave me time for other things.
R: How do you think writing faster could help you in a personal relationship? Why is that?
I: Writing faster can be helpful in relationships by being able to express your feelings in words faster than not being able to. I don’t know, to be honest I don’t think that writing faster can help in a personal relationship. In no circumstance that I can think of would it be beneficial to be a faster writer. Writing is such an archaic form of communication now days. I think only being able to text faster or be able to talk on the phone well can be beneficial to relationships at this point in time.
R: Give an example of how writing faster could be useful in a personal relationship. Why do you think this?
I: You can get your thoughts down quickly and to the point. Spend less time trying to think of a better way to write it down. It could also help with just leaving little notes for your partner. Not long drawn out letters.
R: Describe at least one thing you would like to learn more about writing faster.
I: The one thing that I would like to learn about writing faster is to stay on topic and to not wander off to other ideas of non-relevancy. Writing faster can place one in a position to just throw ideas on a paper which could not be relevant to the topic. Writing to stay on topic while producing prose at a faster pace is the one thing I would like to learn about writing faster.
R: Give your number one piece of advice for someone looking to learn more about writing faster.
I: To write faster, you must improve your vocabulary. If you limit yourself to the words that you know right now, and never expand, you will not open yourself up to the plethora of words that could help you get your point across. Often times writers block (which in turn delays writing speed) comes to those who do not know how to portray their thoughts on paper, and mostly this is because they don’t know the right words to do it with, hence with an expanded vocabulary, comes more pathways to making yourself understood in your writing.
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That’s it for now! I hope you enjoyed this interview conversation and found at least one useful bit of information you can immediately begin to apply in your life.
Also, if you’d like to figure out how to make a lot of great content for your own blog, website, school work, or email newsletters, then you might enjoy the Quick Content Formula. This is my own personal (and favorite!) method of creating highly engaging, fun, and useful information at a very quick pace. It’s a great way to beat that blinking cursor and write more awesome stuff. Click here to check it out.
Please share your thoughts, experiences, or your own interview answers and let’s share some real life wisdom, okay?