10 Tips For How To Write Blog Posts Faster
Something I hear SO often is that writing blog content takes people wayyy longer than they'd like. And I get it – when you start doing something, you want to know that you're going to be able to complete it in a timely manner.
If you're new to writing blogs for your business, my first piece of encouragement is that the MORE you do it, the easier it will become, meaning the FASTER you'll be able to do it.
But even when you've built the habit and write consistently, sometimes you'll just find that the writing task is taking too long and when that happens, it's nice to have some tricks and tools to help you out.
So, here are my top 10 tips to help you write blog posts faster!
How To Write Blog Posts Faster (Tips from a Blog Writer and Strategist for Business Owners)
Write First, Edit Second
When it comes to writing blogs for your business, it’s important that you think of it in phases. Too often I see people trying to do everything in one sitting – ideate, research, outline, draft, edit, finalize, and publish.
But it’s RARE it will happen this way! I encourage business owners to approach their blog writing process in 3 phases.
The second phase is drafting and in this phase, you have one goal: get all of your words onto the page!
Now is NOT the time for perfectionism. And if you’re anything like me, that can be super hard for you to accept, but if you want to write your blogs faster, it’s best that you leave perfection at the door and simply let your thoughts flow.
When you try to make edits right away, you take the risk of forgetting what you wanted to say and then end up spending more time trying to get your thinking back on track.
Instead of writing a few sentences and then reading what you wrote, try to get everything in your head all out onto paper FIRST, even if it's not pretty or polished and come back to fix it later!
Misspelled words, sentence structures and the overall format should all be a part of your editing process (phase 3!), NOT your initial writing process.
Link Later
Oftentimes when writing your blogs, you’ll likely find that you need to link something throughout your content. Whether it’s another relevant blog post that you’ve written in the past, someone that you’re referencing in your content, or a piece of research that you want to link to.
Just like you want to write first and edit second, you also want to LINK LATER!
Instead of stopping in your writing tracks, simply highlight the section you need to link, make a note of what needs linked, and come back to it in your editing process.
I can’t tell you how many times I go and search for what I need to link and then get distracted and start doing something else. Do yourself a favor and avoid that!
Write in Full Screen Mode
This tip might sound a little odd, but it truly helps SO much!
If you’re the type that gets easily distracted like me, make sure that you work in full screen mode so that you can’t see anything else on your computer AND that your blog draft is the ONLY tab you have open.
Something as simple as this can keep your eyes from wandering and ensure that you stay focused on the task at hand – which is writing your blog post.
Create a General Outline Before You Start Writing
When it comes to writing blog content for your business, the thing that trips you up the most probably isn’t the fact that you don’t know what you want to say – it’s likely more so the fact that you don’t know the correct format or structure that you want to say it in.
My suggestion for you here is once you’ve decided the general topic that you’re going to write about, create a general outline for yourself BEFORE you start writing.
This is part of phase 1 of the blog writing process!
And when I say “outline,” it doesn’t have to be anything crazy. Oftentimes, my blog “outline” often just looks like some bulleted notes on my quarterly blog content calendar because I've found that's enough for me and it works well.
For example, this is a blog post I had planned for last October and this is a screenshot directly from my quarterly blog content spreadsheet.
To create your outline, simply take your blog topic and ask yourself: what sub-topics need to be included in this blog post so that I can get all of my points across before ending with a solid conclusion that introduces my call-to-action?
Let’s use this blog post of mine as an example: the general topic was "blog content pillars and why you need them."
Before I started writing, I created 3 sub-topics that I knew I wanted to address:
What Are Blog Content Pillars?
The Purpose of Blog Content Pillars
How To Create Blog Content Pillars For Your Business
Pre-determining those sub-topics helped make my writing faster and smoother because I knew EXACTLY what I needed to cover!
The way you outline your blog topic can be super unique to you! You may find that you want to do a more formal outline for your blogs and that's totally okay too.
In that case, you might include:
H1 Proposed title (remember, this can change later)
H2 and H3 headers for main sections
Bullet points of key ideas for each section
Notes for links, examples, or references
Call-to-action(s) you plan to include
The idea is simply that you have something to work off of when it comes time to actually write instead of staring at a blank Google Doc for hours.
Listen to Focus Music
If you’re struggling to get in the zone during your blog writing, don’t underestimate the power of some sort of focus music. I know it might sound simple, but seriously… I don’t know what they put in that stuff, but it WORKS!
Here are some of my favorite writing playlist recommendations:
Cozy Christmas Jazz (yes, this is seasonal specific, but honestly I would listen to this all year round!)
Title Last
One of the major mistakes I see people make when writing their blog content is that they get so caught up in what the TITLE of their blog post should be from the very beginning.
But here’s the thing: your blog title will likely change as you write your content and that’s totally okay!
That’s why I always tell people to start with your general blog topic first, write your blog post, and come back to the title last. This ensures that your title actually conveys what your content is truly about!
If you struggle with titling your blog posts, refer to this free Blog Post Titling Guide for help!
Skip the Intro
Similar to trying to write a title right away, many people get super caught up in the introduction paragraph of their blog post. And I get it – since this content is technically the first thing that your audience will read, it feels like it should be the first thing that you write.
In reality, however, you’re much better off to jump straight into the meat of your content and then come back to your introduction at the very end.
This ensures that you actually include the relevant information and context in your introduction because you already know exactly how the rest of your blog post reads.
But DON’T FORGET to actually come back and add this part of your blog – this is one of two sections that I see being skipped the most in blog content and though it might be the shortest part of your blog, it IS very important!
Know What You’re Going to Write BEFORE You Sit Down to Write
This is one of my biggest blog writing tips and it really is SO necessary!
Having a general idea of what you’re going to write about or create before you actually sit down to do it will save you from soooo much decision fatigue.
This is one of the reasons that I preach planning your blog content one quarter in advance – it’s LESS about the strict plan, and more about giving your brain the freedom and capacity to brainstorm and think of ideas instead of trying to force yourself to do it in the moment!
If you struggle to generate blog topic ideas for your business, CLICK HERE for some ideas to get your brain thinking in the right direction.
Define Your Writing Environment
Something I’ve learned about myself is that my brain needs to be refreshed a LOT throughout the day and sometimes the best way to do that is to simply switch up my environment.
This can be as simple as moving from your desk to your kitchen table. Or moving from your office to a coffee shop. Or really switch things up by sitting outside to finish your tasks.
When it comes to blog writing, it can be valuable to define a “writing only” environment and what I mean by that is simply designating a spot –either in your house or somewhere in public – that overtime creates a trigger for your brain that tells it it’s time to write.
By doing this, you give your brain a fresh perspective that often allows you to be more creative and get your work done even faster.
For a deeper dive into how to create your ideal writing environment, CLICK HERE!
Turn Off All Notifications
Lastly, one of my best tips for writing your blogs FASTER is to turn off allll your notifications on your phone and on your computer.
Put your phone in another room, turn off your Slack notifications, exit out of your email.
ALL of these things are only going to distract you when you’re writing, so do yourself a favor and remove them from your environment so that you can fully focus on your writing at hand!
Blog Writing Tips and Resources for Business Owners
So there ya have it! My top 10 tips for how to write blog posts faster!
Writing blogs for your business doesn’t have to be the thing that takes you foreverrrr every time you sit down to do it.
With the right systems in place, it can become a streamlined, repeatable part of your marketing rhythm and the faster you’re able to write and publish, the more consistent you’ll be – which is where the real results start to compound!
If you’re looking for more blog writing tips and resources, I’ve got you covered:
Download The Beginner’s Guide to Blogging for Your Business – a free guide to help you start blogging in your business with ease and consistency
4 Step Process For Creating a Blog Content Plan for Your Business
If you’re starting your business blog from scratch and feel a little overwhelmed and not sure where to start, that’s why I created my custom blog strategy service, The Manuscript!
With The Manuscript, you get:
✔️ Kickoff call to discuss your blog goals, ideal audience, & desired publishing schedule for the long term
✔️ Custom blog strategy creation WITH defined blog content pillars, a quarter’s worth (up to 12) blog topics tailored to your goals and audience, PLUS ideas for how to repurpose your blogs on other platforms
✔️ Strategy delivered via Loom
✔️ 30 days of Slack support so you feel confident putting your strategy into action WITH the option to submit one piece of writing for review per week
New to my world? Nice to virtually meet ya. 👋 I’m Natalie, but everyone calls me Natty (you can too) – blog and email writer for creative business owners and service providers.
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