Want to finish your essay assignments faster?  Much as it may feel like a good idea, don’t skip the preparation phase.  If you do that, you’ll end up writing paragraphs with no clear idea of what it is you’re talking about. Instead, try one of these things to help streamline your writing process and see how well it works out for you.

1. Use an outline.  An outline can be as simple as an sequential arrangement of the key points you will present in the essay.  These points need not be too elaborate, either — a keyword that represents what the idea is should suffice.  The purpose is to give you an organized skeleton to follow when you do start writing the first draft.
2. Write a summary essay.  Before writing the actual draft, write a summarized version first.  A single paragraph with five to ten sentences should be enough to let you condense your main points.
3. Formulate the main idea in your head before firing up the word processor.  Before you even sit down to begin writing, go over the main idea and how you’ll go about discussing it in your head.  Give it images, like a story, if possible.  Know how easy it is to write when you already know what you’re writing about?  The time you take to mentally take stock of the material will do you a world of good.
4. Map out the main idea and its associated points.  Create a mind map with the main idea of the essay at the center with all the main points connected to it. Keep it to one or two levels, though — that should be enough to make it easier to finish your draft.

While some of those might sound like they’ll delay the process, they’re actually more likely to end up speeding things along.   All of the above allow you to organize your thoughts and give them a logical form, instead of constantly going back and forth in your mind while you’re writing the actual essay.

Most new writers worry about writing well.  While that’s obviously important, you also need to write fast if you plan to write as a profession.  Whether you’re cranking out articles for freelancing clients or cutting deadlines at a newsroom, you’re writing speed is going to have a bearing on how much success you enjoy.

How do you learn to write fast?  Here are some ideas:

Time yourself.  Put a stopwatch on your desk and use it to clock yourself every time you start a new piece.   When you have time running down, you become more conscious of how long you’re taking, so you’re well aware when you need to pick up the pace.

Write crappy.  If you take too long because you agonize over every word, then you might want to give up the perfectionist attitude.   Resolve to write faster, even if you end up producing less than stellar copy.   You can always revise poorly-written material, while the time you waste agonizing over copy will be gone forever.

Pressure yourself.  Set time limits for yourself with every piece you write.  If it normally takes you an hour to write a pre-researched feature, then set a timer to flag you at 45 minutes.  The extra pressure serves as a constant reminder that you need to keep your eye on the ball. It works.

Want to speed up your writing speed? Sure, there are tricks you can pull to hasten your workflow. If you want to really improve your process for the long term, though, here are things we believe you should be focusing on.

1. Setting goals. Without goals, you’re just another random writer waxing poetically on a page. Having goals let you know where you’re going at all times, quickly overcoming one of the most common excuses for procrastination – being unsure about what to do.

2. Setting priorities. Goals aren’t enough. You’ll have to prioritize each one too. Plus, you’ll have to take into account all the other things that you need to attend to, including children, spouses, errands and more. Being able to set priorities for all of those things is the true secret to a balanced life – one that will help keep writers on their path.

3. Sound planning. Writing fast depends as much on a solid plan as it does on your skills. The better you’ve prepared in the pre-writing stages, the smoother the actual writing can happen.

4. Compartmentalize your research. Complete your research materials before getting to work on the piece. If, during the middle of actual writing, you realize you need to verify some facts or get some new stuff, save them for later. In your timeline, always keep research work in isolated boxes.

5. Learn to write without editing. The secret to writing really fast is to understand your subject, let the words flow and worry about the rest later. Editing for one minute can set your writing process back for more than double that time, so avoid it at all costs.

6. Edit thoroughly. Save all your editing energy after the initial draft is finished. At that point, edit thoroughly, pulling out every trick you learned in school to improve your material.

7. Use automated tools to your advantage. There are many tools out there for career writers, from novel editors to screenplay organizers to grammar checkers. Used well, they can speed up your writing time like no other.

8. Never give up. Writing is hard, especially when you decide to take on it as a career path. Embrace that and realize that you probably wouldn’t be happier doing anything else. Otherwise, you would have changed course long ago.

Want to write faster?  Forget about typing like a transcription expert.  The gains you will realize from that aren’t all that huge, unless you can come up with ideas at the same rate as the recorded voices can recite them.

1. Learn to draft with no regard.  When you draft, let the thoughts flow without regards for issues of clarity and correctness.  You can worry about these things later when you’re editing and revising.  Whiel composing the first draft, stay focused on simply expressing yourself.

2. Schedule a regular time to write.  A regular schedule, repeated consistently over time, builds habit.  The more you’re able to integrate positive behaviors into your routines, the more fluid your work ends up during their execution.

3. Use a timer.  You know how everyone always works fast when a deadline is looming?  That’s what a timer counting down in front of you does whenever you write.  You’ll be amazed at how much distractions you can ignore when the time is right there to occupy you.

4. Take advantage of speed-improving writing tools.  Software-based writing assistants, such as grammar checkers and automated style guides, can literally shave off hours from your work.  If you ask  me, all writers who care about their productivity should put them to good use.

Whatever kind of work you’re doing, the faster you can finish, the more time you make for yourself.  The same is true for repairing electronics as it is with writing.  If you feel you can benefit from a writing “turbo mode” (such as when you’re in a time-crunching deadline), try these things that have benefited many looking to speed up the pace that they put words to paper.

1. Just write more.

The more you write, the easier it gets to lay down words to paper.  That’s just the way it is.  Nobody gets their momentum started by a thousands of words only to proceed even slower – that’s a fact.

2. Use a template whenever possible.

Many forms of writing won’t require you to start from the ground up.  If there’s an option of using a pre-made template, use it – plenty of grammar software titles come with dozens of them.  Don’t forget to perform the appropriate tweaks.

3. Copy and revise.

Here’s a dirty little trick that seldom gets talked about.  When you’re really in a bind and need to finish as quickly as possible, don’t be afraid to cheat a little.  Copy directly from your reference and paraphrase in parts – it’s artful plagiarism and is frequently acceptable.

4. Write in bits and pieces.

If the words just won’t come together, then just write down the core ideas.  You can return to them later once the muse has caught up with you.

If you write for a living, much of your income will eventually hinge, at least in part, on how quickly you can put your words to paper.  Writing fast will allow you to tackle more tasks, hopefully allowing you to earn more in the process.

Barring physical elements such as typing speed, writing faster often comes down to preparation, focus and taking advantage of available technology.  At its most basic, look towards the following things while you get your work of writing done:

Are your research sources already at hand?

Whether you’re using a book, a magazine, an interview transcript or several websites as your sources, make sure to collect your notes before even beginning to write.  The last thing you want to do is turn a book several times over while in the process of writing – it breaks your flow and can extend the actual length of time you write indefinitely.

Have you set your writing goals for the day?

Setting a goal that you need to accomplish within the day and sticking to them is a discipline that prolific writers have been able to develop.  Even when you’re feeling distracted or out of tune, trudging through those negative feelings to get the necessary work done will serve you well as you continue to develop the habit. This type of focus, regardless of what’s going around you, will ensure that you finish your tasks without wasting time.

Do you use technology to your advantage?

Plenty of software applications available today are designed to help writers get their work done faster.  Typing Expanders, for instance, allow you to type a short string to automatically display commonly-used phrases.  English writing software, on the other hand, take your haphazardly done text and look for immediate ways to improve it, often facilitating enough modifications that a second rewriting is no longer necessary.

English is a very popular language and it can be really fun to write. There are many clients out there who are demanding articles in English and if you do not know English and how to correct your grammar mistakes, then you may not be as successful as you would like to be. If you are tired of doing blog articles and you would finally like to turn your writing into lots of money by doing freelance writing, then you should first learn about the many different types of English writing software that there is on the market. When you find the best type of English writing software, it is going to give all of your writing that professional look that both you and the clients deserve.

You know that time is truly precious and you do not want to waste your time editing all of your work that you just wrote. The truth is that your client does not want to tell you that you need to edit your work and they do not want to pay someone to edit your work. Instead of wasting all of that precious time, you should turn to the many different software that is available. There is no denying that the right type of software is going to save you a lot of time. Instead of editing all of that work each day, you will be able to write even more articles, which means you will be making more money and that is one of the best features of writing.