Imagine waking up one day with blazing fast writing skills.
You plop down at your keyboard, crack your knucks, and blast out your work in half the time it normally takes. You donât just finish your work, you demolish it. You look up at the clock and canât believe how fast you got done.
And the best part?
Youâre actually having fun.
You donât waste any time staring at a blank screen. Ideas flow out like a firehose. Your fingers zip across the keys at warp speed. Youâve become a writing machine.
Suddenly youâve got tons of free time and donât know what to do with it all. What used to take you a full day now only takes half. Youâve got some time to kill.
Will you pick up more clients to earn extra cash? Start that side hustle youâve always been too busy for? Show the world what a Netflix binge really means?
Doubling your writing speed opens up a whole new world of opportunities.
And the cool thing is, itâs not even hard to do.
By reading through these speed-writing hacks and practicing them every day, youâll be writing faster (and having fun doing it) in no time.
#1.) Crank up the pressure
This is a surefire way to not only boost your writing speed but also make it more fun.
According to a wise dude named Parkinson, âWork expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.â
And heâs not wrong.
By giving yourself time constraints and competing against the clock, youâll be surprised how fast you can get work done.
Donât believe me?
Go bet a co-worker 50 bucks that youâll finish your project an hour faster than it normally takes. If that doesnât ratchet things up to hyperspeed (and keep you from checking emails âreal quickâ), I don’tâ know what will.
Here are some example constraints:
In (4 minutes) I need to (tell a personal story) about (product).
In (25 minutes) I need to (explain a unique way) to use (product).
In (1 paragraph) I need to tell website owners why they should be using (SumoMe).
With only (.gif images) I need to show (my software) working on a website.
While (inside a dark room) I need to come up with (3 business ideas) in (7 minutes).
#2.) Find your flow
The secret to doubling your speed is finding the writing process that works best for you. Everyone is different. To find your unique workflow, you need to experiment.
Remember, what works for me might not be what works for you.
Maybe you prefer different writing tools. Maybe you like to research before brain dumping. Maybe youâre a writing wizard and an outline just slows you down.
Whatever the case, the important thing is to test different flows, record the data, and determine whatâs fastest.
Once you figure that out, put together your own checklists. This streamlines the process and shaves down time thinking about the next step.
#3.) Get in the zone
Hereâs two more tweaks to rev up your writing speed.
First, what time of day do you write fastest?
Maybe youâre thinking, âCool Mitch. Heard that one before. Tell me something I donât know.â
But have you actually tried? Donât underestimate this one. Iâve done the tests. I write 2x faster between 9-12am than I do after 4pm. No joke. When the clock strikes 4, my brain checks out.
So what do I do after 4?
I edit. I email. I check the fridge over and over hoping food will magically appear.
And if I really need to keep writing?
I crack open a beer. Which brings me to the second part of finding your zone…
What mental state do you write fastest in?
You might think itâs whenever youâre most alert, but thatâs not always the case.
Sometimes the opposite is true. You might actually write faster when youâre groggy. When your âinner filterâ is snoozing and youâre too tired to care if your writing sounds good (perfect for brain-dumping).
Or maybe you hit max speed after a shot of caffeine or alcohol.
The point is, keep experimenting until you find your sweet spot. Youâll never know what works best until you try.
#4.) Destroy writerâs block
Writerâs block is a pain in the nuts. Ainât nobody got time for staring at a blank screen. You got shit to do. Hereâs some simple techniques thatâll give writerâs block the throat punch it deserves.
Play âsticky seatâ
Set a timer for 33 minutes. You must sit in your chair, hands on keyboard, until time runs out.
No phone. No internet. No talking. No smiling.
After staring at a blank screen for a few minutes, your brain will start to think, âYeah, Iâm bored as hell. Better start writing.â
Never run out of ideas
If youâre wasting time racking your brain for topic ideas, youâre doing it wrong. Try this insteadâŠ
Start with the easiest part
Give your brain a warm up by starting with the easiest part of your project. Once it breaks a sweat and limbers up a bit, you can move into the heavy lifting.
Blocked on a blog post? Write out your purpose or main point and work backward from there.
Stuck on a sales letter? Begin with your guarantee.
Struggling on an email? Put together a quick call-to-action.
Use your momentum to your advantage.
Just type something
Seriously. Just type anything.
Format your page. Edit last sessionâs work. Heck, even start adding in placeholders describing what you would write if you werenât blocked.
Ridiculous, right?
But it just might be the jumpstart your brain needs to get in gear.
Now, letâs pretend you suffered through a 33-minute sticky seat. You used the idea generators. You tried building momentum. But your brain still isnât cooperating. This doesnât happen often. But when it does, thereâs only one thing left to doâŠ
Move your ass
Youâre restless. Speed writing doesnât work when youâre restless. Time for some stimulation.
So do some…
burpees
break dance
Take cold shower
slap yourself in the face
Whatever gets you stimulated
Just get that blood pumping.
WARNING! This is the last resort. Only do it if all else fails, and limit yourself to 5 minutes. Otherwise youâre just procrastinating.
#5.) Become a distraction assassin
If youâre serious about doubling your writing speed, you have to protect your âfocus timeââruthlessly eliminate all distractions.
Distractions come in four flavors. Technology, real-life, and emotional.
Technology distractionsâlike email, social media, and other notificationsâare easy to get rid of. Just disconnect from the internet and your productivity will soar.
Real-life distractions are harder to control.
A grumbling tummy.
A Chatty Cathy in the office next door.
A Colombian neighbor blasting salsa music for the whole block to hear.
To handle these, you need to get creative.
Make yourself unavailable. Eat and use the bathroom before settling down to work. Buy some earplugs. Do whatever it takes to protect your focus time. Youâll be surprised how fast you write when you prevent these little distractions from taking up your brain bandwidth.
Lastly, you need to get your mind right and rein in emotional distractions. It might sound weird, but creating a pre-writing ritual can make a big difference.
If your emotions are out of whack, youâre writing will be too.
#6.) Save time with technology tricks
Technology can be a distraction. But it can also be a tool.
Distraction Busters
These programs are made specifically to fight distractions. Some popular ones are:
- Freedom (block anything that distracts you)
- Brain.fm (soundtracks to block outside noise and boost productivity)
- Ommwriter (distraction-free text editor that promotes âwriting zenâ)
- Nevilleâs trick (Macs only)
Screw typing, talk instead
Talk-to-text makes writing with a conversational tone dead simple. And with practice, itâs way faster.
The average typing speed is 40 words per minute. The average talking speed is 150 words per minute. Auctioneers can spit out up to 400 words per minute!
Master talk-to-text and youâre looking at some serious speed gainz.
And itâs easy to do. Just open up a voice memo in your phone or use the voice typing tool in Google docs. If youâre an overachiever, you can even buy high-tech talk-to-text software like Dragon.
Custom keyboard shortcuts
Less keystrokes = less time.
This oneâs guaranteed to boost your speed. Software like TextExpander, typeit4me (mac), and breevy (windows), letâs you type in short snippets that expand into longer phrases (or even images). As you can imagine, this makes both typing and editing faster.
The trick is setting shortcuts to be snippets youâd never type when writing normally. For exampleâŠ
%bio = My name is Mitch Glass, and I help Neville teach slowpoke writers how to crank out content at lightning speed.
%logo =
%contact = Hit me up at 1-800-SPEED-WRITER
book you should read = This Book Will Teach You How To Write Better by Neville Medhora
#7.) Take a brain breather
Yes, even writing beasts like yourself need breaks once in a while. Whether you like it or not, your brain has limits.
Itâs easy to skip breaks when youâre under pressure, but science says thatâs not smart. Powering through will slow you down.
Youâre probably tired of hearing it, but if youâre serious about doubling your writing speed, thereâs more testing to be done.
First, how long can you work before your concentration starts to fade? If youâre like most humans, itâs between 25 and 90 minutes.
Next, whatâs the minimum break your brain needs to catch its breath?
Remember, a break doesnât mean opening a new tab to go facebooking. A break means changing activities. Get up and do something different.
So what does this look like in real life?
For me, 55 minutes of work with a 5-minute break works best. You might do better working 25 and breaking for 2. Or working 90 and breaking 15. Once you find your sweet spot, youâll notice a nice boost in writing speed.
#8.) Donât write from scratch
If youâre racing against the clock, shortcuts are your friend. And the best shortcut of all?
Templates.
Donât waste time thinking of a headline, use a proven template.
https://copywritingcourse.com/copywriting-headlines-that-sell/
Donât tinker around with email sales copy, base it off a successful template.
Donât reinvent the wheel with social media, find some time-tested templates. If you see an ad that catches your attention, dissect it and re-use it. Hereâs a simple one…
âNeed help with [big problem your audience has]? Right now weâre doing [something to help their problem #1], [something to help their problem #2], and [something to help their problem #3] inside [your companies product/service]: [link]â
Easy, right? That took like 12 seconds.
Just make sure to add your own flavor. You donât want to sound like a robot.
#9.) Train your speed writing muscles
Writing faster is like running faster. The more your train, the more your muscles grow, the faster you get.
So, do some experimenting. Find your writing zone. Beat your time records. Push yourself to the limits.
Do it day in and day out. Even when you feel lazy.
And remember, this has nothing to do with writing talent. Anyone can do it. (Even you!) The question isâŠ
How bad do you want it?
Sincerely,
Mitch Glass

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Solid tips! Iâve been putting off writing for a bit âcanât wait to give these tips a shot. Â Ps* i love that you reply to every comment Neville.
Awesome Mary! Let us know which tips end up working best
Great tips! Writing copy for my own business is the hardest for me (death by overthinking) and what Iâve found helps is to take a big break (several hours or a day) between each stage – outline, 1st edit, 2nd edit, proof.Â
Yup, once you get “in the box” it’s hard to get out. Another great way to get out of the box is ask a friend what they think.
A fresh pair of eyes always helps a ton!
Totally agree with Neville. Getting a fresh pair of eyes on your work is a great way to get out of the box. The trick is figuring out the system that works best for you – everyone is different!
Also, on a Mac.
System Preferences>Keyboard>Dictation>Enable (Enhanced Dictation allows you to use it being offline, which I prefer, ’cause Apple has access to your input)
once it’s installed, click the “fn” button (lower left of your keyboard) twice and you’re good to go.
Oh good one Jason!
Definitely gonna try this one out!
Thanks for the tips. I rarely can write over 1,000 words per hour, assuming it isn’t mindless garbage :).
Very welcome Jonathan, I wouldn’t sweat the 1,000 words thing. So long as the post is GOOD, I don’t care about the length!
Yup, quality over quantity! That said, my first drafts are ALWAYS garbage. Just get all those thoughts on paper, then go back and make it pretty later
I enjoy reading through your post and I must comment that these tips work. I’ve tried some of them before and it worked for me.
For this tip on “glue yourself to you chair for 33 minutes”, mine is quite different. I glue myself on my chair instead. I know this may sound weird but I do stand on my chair and use my phone to type when I’m feeling like I have nothing to write.
It gives me the feeling that I’m about to chat with someone on facebook and then I’ll get the content flowing.
Some times, to get the best you must set some physical constrains and follow it.
BAHAHAHHA, you STAND ON A CHAIR?? Now that’s a new one :)
But hey, whatever works for you works. So stick with it. Please don’t fall of the chair though đ
Haha, I will try not to fall.
*Only one person was hurt in the making of this post đ
Maybe scattering some pillows around your chair would be a wise move #safetyfirst đ
Here’s one I can add which I found out from personal experience…don’t try and write on an empty stomach. Writing is serious brain work and what I discovered is that I felt totally grumpy trying to be creative before having a decent meal. Your ”sugar” levels affect your mood which in turn affects your creativity : )
Good one Jacqueline!
It’s so funny though, I think I get most of my writing done on an empty stomach. I personally like not eating all day because I feel lighter and less tired.
But each person has their own writing “Happy Place” with different rituals and preferences :)
Agreed. Finding your unique happy place is half the battle to boosting your writing speed âĄ