How To Write Blog Posts Faster: My Journey From Drafting One Post In 15 Hours To 1.5h

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means I earn a small commission if you purchase or book through my link, at no extra cost to you.

• Save

Wow. I can’t believe in this title either.

I remember that less than a year ago I struggled big times to draft one post a week. I really wanted to make blogging regularly a reality, but I didn’t have enough time for that.

I found my old messages saying that I spend 15-20 hours on average to write one blog post. 

Like what?! 

15-20 hours?! 

I regret I deleted almost everything from my old ClickUp account where I tracked time spent working on each blog post. The only one I found in there had a timer stopped at 8 hours 48 minutes and it was still marked as “editing”.

• Save

And just yesterday, I drafted an entire blog post from the very beginning to an end in less than 1.5 hours. Editing, SEO, formatting, and all that jazz took me less than an hour. That’s 10 times faster than it would take a few months ago!

So what happened?

How come that I can write so fast now, compared to what was happening just a mere couple of months?

Just to clarify, I’m not talking about research or editing part of the process. Just writing. Research can take hours no matter how much you’ll try to speed up this process. It all depends on the topic you’re writing about, so if you can’t do anything to spend less time on that, don’t stress about it.

Now, when we have this cleared out of the way, let’s dive in.

How to write blog posts faster

Do your research beforehand

When you write a blog post, you want someone to read it, don’t you? It would be nice if it ranked high on Google and brought some traffic to your website. You’ve worked hard on it after all!

And if you write a blog post about a topic you know little about, you need to start by doing your research before you even attempt to write. Gather all the information you can to make you more knowledgeable and speed your writing process. Make note of any interesting finds you come across, keep a list of keywords worth including.

There are lots of different ways you could do that. You can use paid or free tools. Or simply Google your idea and see what comes up and if you can compete with the first few pages it showed you. Usually, looking at the first 10 results is sufficient.

RELATED:
Feeling overwhelmed? Close those damn open loops!

Always start with an outline

When you don’t create an outline beforehand, you might have a trouble to write. Not knowing how to start and just sitting and staring at a blank page can be stressful. 

Just imagine yourself opening a new document, trying to think of anything to write about. You’ve done your research so you know the topic you want to cover and you have your keyword in front of you, but what next? What exactly do you want to write about to make sure that your post will be searchable in Google? How do you want to present your topic to your audience?

Create an outline during your research process and make a list of relevant questions Google suggested to you. 

I have to admit, though, that I don’t always do that. I know, I know. You might think I’m being hypocritical here, but just give me a second to explain myself.

This post you’re reading now, for example, I had in my mind for a while. I knew more or less what I wanted to write about, so when I sat down for my daily writing session and realised that I didn’t have any drafts to finish, I just opened a new document and started writing.

I didn’t do any research. 

I didn’t check if people search for something like that at all. 

It wasn’t something I was really concerned about because I’ve noticed that the more I write, the more ideas I have. It also helps me to speed up the process, so I prefer to write anything than nothing at all.

But at some point I realised it might be worth checking if I can find any suitable keyword for this post. I started doing some research, and it gave more ideas of what I can include in here. So I went back to writing and allowed my thoughts to flow out on the “paper”. When I wrote everything I wanted, I went back to finish my research, created a proper outline, rearranged paragraphs, and added questions from Google that fit in here.

The entire process was a lot more chaotic than it usually is but it worked for me this time.

Habit of writing 400 words a day

Writing 400 words a day changed my life. Truly. And it’s not about the number, but about a habit that I created. I started doing it as a part of a challenge that Riennahera made last year. I didn’t succeed when I took part in it for the first time. Nor the second. But now I’ve been writing at least 400 words a day every day since the beginning of the year. 

Okay, I might’ve missed one day and write just 200 words the other day, but that’s it. No more mishaps.

Thanks to being consistent, I can write 400 words in less that 15-20 minutes now. That gives 1600 words in an hour! 

There are days when it’s going slower, like today. That’s because I’ve been having a very strong headache throughout the entire day and it’s been difficult to do anything, let alone to write.

But I do it no matter how I feel. I like this feeling of accomplishment that it brings after a finished session. Recently my partner asked me why I never take any days off and write every day. The funny thing is, though, that I can’t imagine not writing. I love it and there are days when I feel compelled to do it and I even have entire paragraphs forming inside my head.

I don’t force myself to do it and I don’t choose a topic to write beforehand, as I’ve noticed that writing whatever I feel like I want to write is much better. As long as it’s blog related, that’s it. I stopped counting words I write during my journaling sessions or when I write random stories as it kills the purpose of it for me. It makes no sense to count everything and stress over it. 

Don’t wait for the motivation to write. It’s a very unreliable feeling. When you wait for your motivation to strike, you might write once a week. Or even worse, once a month. That’s not the way to do it. Treat it seriously and create a habit that last. It will give you much better results in the long run.

At first, I thought that 400 words were nothing. It’s a quarter of one blog post. That’s not enough. But it all adds up and 400 words a day gives 2,800 words a week and 146,000 words a year. It’s the equivalent of two Young Adult novels! 

Seeing that once I start to write I usually won’t stop immediately after reaching my target, it gives me two blogs posts written in a week without spending a lot of time on it. 

And that’s not nothing.

• Save

Don’t edit while writing

This is something that it’s been difficult to get used to it. I’ve always been writing, editing, writing, removing some parts of what I wrote, then write again… It’s been an endless loop of trying to create a content and improve it at the same time.

You can’t do that. 

It’s very unproductive.

When you sit down with an intention to write, just write. Don’t filter your thoughts, write everything what comes to your mind and don’t worry about any mistakes you’ve made.

First draft isn’t supposed to be perfect, it’s supposed to exist. Just that. You can’t edit out a blank page, but you can edit a bad draft. And trust me, nobody’s first draft looks good! 

You can rearrange paragraphs or even rewrite them later on. If you can, let it sit for a day or two and come back with fresh eyes. 

RELATED:
10 Simple Things To Do To Be Productive When You Don’t Feel Like It

Don’t care what others think about you

For years, I’ve been wanting to have a blog and an active Instagram account. I don’t know why in particular, but I’ve always enjoyed writing and taking photos, so it was something that looked like a great side project. Throughout my entire life, I’ve had multiple blogs and even more Instagram accounts. 

They have one thing in common – I had them in secret. 

I never said a word to anyone about them.

Last time I started a blog, it was exactly 7 years ago. January 2016. I remember sitting in McDonald’s writing new posts and feeling so great about my new hobby, but being afraid of someone finding me. I felt so great writing it and didn’t even bother with learning SEO and how to reach people. All I wanted was to have a creative outlet.

I’ve never deleted it and I’m truly surprised to see what I was writing about. I wrote all the blog posts about what was going in my mind at that specific moment. Topics I brought up were interesting, educational, and they had a potential to rank in Google if I only knew how to do it. I even used a photo of myself as a featured image for my first blog post! That’s crazy. 

I don’t know what happened somewhere between then and now, that caused me being so afraid of other people’s opinion that I started writing strictly for the algorithm and not for people. I removed my voice from every post I wrote to the best of my capabilities. 

And that’s what made writing so difficult.

By writing just for the algorithm, I started writing about things I wasn’t truly passionate about. Or I simply didn’t want to write about them in that moment, so I was forcing myself to do it. Spending 10+ hours to write one blog post was a reality for me. I couldn’t comprehend how people can publish new posts 2-3 times a week when I was spending all my free time to write just one and could barely do that on time. 

Recently, my mindset has shifted.

I didn’t want to continue writing the way I did that before. I became fed up with forcing myself to write when I knew it didn’t have to look like that. At some point, I even thought about deleting my blog altogether, because I started believing that it’s not something I should pursue.

The truth is, though, that I really enjoy writing, as long as I write when and what I want to.

I wanted to take back control over my life, which also included taking back control over my blog.

Hence, why I pivoted again. 

Why I started writing about blogging.

Why I started sharing more personal things.

And that’s what truly helped me to write faster than before. Now, I write what I want and don’t have to force myself to do it. What’s more, I stopped being obsessed about what others might think about me because I do something I truly enjoy and believe in.

Writing the way I speak & don’t let perfectionism to stop you

Since I started writing the way I speak, it became much easier to write. When I first started blogging, I was very nervous if my English was good enough to do it. Possibility of someone founding out than it’s not my first language stressed me out to the point where I was spending hours just editing, editing, editing.. I was obsessed. I wanted to make sure that everything is written correctly, and I don’t mean just grammar here, but also that the percentage of “sticky words” was low, there were no weak adverbs, and who knows what else.

One day, I just had enough. Sure, English is my second language BUT I don’t believe I need to spend hours trying to rewrite everything just to fit into some software’s requirements. It kills the joy of writing and it makes me feel like I’m no longer being authentic. 

Once I stopped putting so much pressure on writing perfectly, I started writing faster. Now I put all my thoughts on the “paper” and just roll with it. I’ll correct any grammar errors I make along the way, add some missing semicolons and all that stuff, but that’s all, basically.

I don’t write an essay. I treat is as a written version of a YouTube video. And I wouldn’t write a script to read it word to word if I were recording a video.

• Save

Pomodoro & lofi music

Every time I sit down to write and feel like my mind keeps wandering, I try to remove all the distractions and turn on the timer in the Forest or Opal app. During that time, all the apps on my phone are blocked and I know that this time is just to work on a new blog post.

After a few days, I stopped thinking about checking Facebook or Instagram while I was writing. I don’t even open them at all on my computer now, which was impossible to do in the past. When I know that this is the time I need to focus, I switch into the working mode immediately and write 400 words or more with ease.

I love listening to some lofi playlist while I’m writing. Recently I came along this Immersive Writing Sessions playlist on YouTube and I immediately fell in love with it. It’s even better than lofi music.

Update your content calendar regularly

At first, I was going to say “keep a content calendar”. Or create it. But the fact is that you already have one if you’re creating content. Having it and using it are two different things, though.

When I started blogging, I wasn’t updating my content calendar at all. I put there around hundred different keywords that were worth writing about based on what my competitors were ranking for, and I just tried to work with it.

It didn’t work.

I know some people that do it this way and it works wonders for them, but that’s not me, unfortunately.

There are days when I have plenty of ideas coming to me every minute. If I don’t write them down, I’ll regret it later on. So I started adding them to my content calendar without checking if there are any keywords that would match them.

Then, when I sit down to write, I look at my content schedule or list of ideas and pick one that speaks to me. It doesn’t matter if it has keywords to rank for.

It makes the entire process much easier, and who knows, maybe someone will come to my blog to read another post, find this one, and get inspired by it? Who cares that Google won’t put it on its first page?

Updating my content calendar regularly helps me to come across new, unexpected ideas. Once I free my mind from all the ideas I have running around, I have more mental capacity to find new ones.

Don’t block yourself on purpose

Write whenever you feel like it. If an idea pops into your mind and the entire paragraph follows it, write it down. Catch your thoughts before they disappear. It can be so rare to have a moment like that, so don’t waste it. Don’t let it pass.

You’ll be surprised how much it helps in the long run. Sometimes one thought turns into a paragraph or an entire blog post. It often happens effortlessly. Once you’re in a zone, you might not even notice how much you wrote until you finish. I bet you’ll have more moments like that after some time.

Treat it as a work

That’s a tricky one. For a very long time, I had that mentality that I “just” write. It’s nothing important, just a mere meaningless hobby not worth paying attention to it.

And you know what?

It made me feel worthless. All I could think about was how much time I waste, and finally everything else became more important than writing itself.

I know how bad it sounds, but that’s the truth.

Just recently I switched my mindset and decided to pursue blogging for real. That’s when I started treating it more like a job. I know I need to write every day to make it work. I set goals and make a task list to make sure I always know what to do. If I need to, I do some work also in the evening, when my partner can spend more time with our daughter.

It helped me tremendously. 

In less than two weeks, I drafted 7 blog posts. I’ve never in my life written so much in such a short amount of time. If you’d ask me months ago how often I can publish a blog post, I’d say that once a week is more than I can do. Now, I’m tempted to switch into posting three times a week or start doing YouTube. 

Once I started treated myself and what I do seriously, everything slowly started falling into places.

Limit social media and set boundaries

I attempted a social media detox not that long ago, and I failed miserably. It taught me a lot and led to setting stronger boundaries to protect my time and mental health. Spending less time online boosted my creativity. I’ve noticed that if I start my day from scrolling through social media, I’ll be less productive throughout the day. That’s why now I have all social media apps blocked until I finish all the work for the day.

Now I’m often not tempted to go on social media at all and I want to write instead. When I switched my mindset, writing became more enjoyable and I often have a lot of fun doing it.

• Save

Common Questions & Answers

Is a 500-word blog too short?

Yes, a 500 word blog post is too short. You won’t be able to cover your topic in detail in so little amount of words. What’s more, Google doesn’t like such short blog posts and it can be almost impossible to rank for them. 

Is 1000 words for a blog good?

Sure is! 1000 words is a good amount to aim for at the beginning. Usually the more words the better and the higher your chance to rank in Google. It’s always a good idea to check your competitors that rank on the first page for the keyword you want to use, and see how long are their posts.

Remember to always write as much as you need to exhaust your topic and make it the best possible.

RELATED:
30 Easy Journaling Ideas For Beginners (+ PDF Printable Journal Prompts!)

Can I write 2000 words in 2 hours?

That’s a tricky question. It all depends on your personal experience. When I just started out blogging, it was impossible for me to write 2000 words in 2 hours. Now, I’d say that it’s possible although I’ve never tried it.

How many blog posts can you write a day?

As many as you can! There’s no limit on how many blog posts you can write in a day. It all depends on your personal circumstances. How long does it take you to draft one blog post? How much time can you spend on writing?

If you’re treating blogging as a side hustle, you might have only one or two hours a day available for writing. During that time you could write one blog post, if you did keyword research and outlined it beforehand.

If you’re a full-time blogger, then you can easily dedicate an entire day to writing. Then, you could cramp even 4-5 blog posts during that time! I don’t think it’s really feasible though, as it can be difficult to focus and write high quality content for 8 hours straight.

Should you blog everyday?

If you mean writing, I’d say yes, you should. Habit of writing 400 words a day helped me not only to write faster but to create a backlog of drafts that I can schedule in advance. I’ve never been able to achieve that until I started writing regularly.

When it comes to publishing new blog posts, though, I don’t think that it’s wise to do it every day. It’s way more important to focus on quality, instead of quantity, and publishing longer blog posts once a week can give you better results that pushing out new content every day. This is also a great way to get burned out and overwhelmed in a matter of days.

How to write a blog about yourself?

I don’t think you should write a blog about yourself if you want to make it your career. If it’s just for fun, then just create a blog on a platform like Blogger or WordpPress.com and start writing! Otherwise, you should write a blog about something that both interests you and teach, motivate, or inspire your target audience.

People read blogs for a reason. They might look for an answer to their question or look for inspiration. They don’t want to read just about you. Sure, you can add some posts here and there that put more focus on you, or include your relevant experience in your articles. That’s what I started doing recently. It’s good when people can relate to you, it helps you grow a community.

PIN IT FOR LATER!

• Save

Final words on how to write blog posts faster

There’s no miracle five-minute thing that would make you write blog posts faster. There are a lot of things you can do to improve this process, though, and with time, spend less time creating. 

Just a few months ago I struggled to publish a new blog post once a week and sometimes barely made it on time. Since then, I took a long break away from blogging, implemented new habits and boundaries, and realised what my fundamental problem was. Hours spent on journaling and brainstorming helped me get to some conclusions and made appropriate changes to make writing enjoyable again.

RELATED:
Blogger Burnout: Why It Happens and How to Prevent It (Based On My Experience)

I hope all those tips I covered in this article will help you as much as they helped me to write blog posts faster and improve the entire experience. Good luck!