How to Rev Up Your Writing Speed without Forgoing Quality

As an experienced provider of academic transcription and business transcription services, we are well aware that speed is a critical factor when it comes to delivering transcripts in custom turnaround time. Students, authors, professional bloggers, and content writers know the importance of writing well and providing fresh and engaging content, free of spelling and grammatical errors. However, quantity is just as important as quality and you can produce more content if you write faster. Whether you’re a student with multiple writing assignments and looming deadlines or a business blogger who has to churn out lengthy posts every day, writing faster is essential to achieve your goals. Here are some tips to rev up your writing speed without forgoing quality:

• Plan: Plan before you start writing. Have an outline – think about the title of your piece and what you are going to say. Make notes and jot down the key ideas you want to present in a logical way. Think about who your audience is, what they are expecting, and what you hope to achieve. Brainstorming, framing the points and establishing a structure will help you write faster.
• Do some serious research: Once you finalize your topic and make an outline, do some good research on your topic. This will help you find the information you need and refine your ideas so that you can write quickly. For example, if you’re writing a blog on search engine optimization (SEO) for physicians, find and read blog posts and articles on this topic. Note down ideas that strike you. You can write faster when you have solid material on hand.
• Improve your typing speed: Best-selling author Neil Patel stresses the importance of typing at a decent speed to write faster. According to him you should aim for at least 60 words per minute (60 WPM). Technique is also important and he recommends the proper typing technique as “resting the four fingers of each hand on the keys of the middle row, with your thumbs hovering over the space bar”. You should also practice typing without looking at the keyboard. As an alternative, you can also use speech recognition software which types spoken words. However, speech to text software comes with problems such as variations in the pronunciation of words, unwanted ambient noises, homonyms and individual accents. For instance, it cannot distinguish ‘their’ and ‘there’. In fact, the corrections and the proofreading required after dictating a document would actually slow down your work. A better option would be to use an audio transcription service to convert your dictation into text quickly.
• Use simple words: Don’t waste time thinking of high-sounding, complex words to use. Learn to express yourself using simple words. This will be easier on you and your audience. For example, use ‘payment’ instead of ‘remuneration’, ‘skills’ instead of ‘proficiencies’ and ‘improve’ instead of ‘ameliorate’.
• Use writing tools: There are many free online resources to help you write better and faster. Experts strongly recommend resources such as Grammarly (for Chrome users), Hemingway, Writepls, and OneLook’s Reverse Dictionary, and editing tools.
• Eliminate distractions: This is easier said than done as there are many distractions that can kill productivity and keep you from getting your work done on time. First, eliminate noise-turn off your phone and choose a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed and your thoughts won’t be interrupted. Block distracting websites on your computer or write offline. Finish all your other important chores before you sit down to write.
• Leave the editing for later: Get down to your writing as soon as possible and don’t worry about making mistakes. The first draft is likely to have errors, but if you should focus on writing and finishing your piece quickly. Don’t make the mistake of switching to editing half way through as it will slow you down. Your motto should be: write first, edit later.
• Set a deadline: Setting a deadline is important to drive you to complete your work. Fix a deadline and push yourself to stick to it. For instance, most academic assignments have deadlines and that’s what pushes students to finish their project. Deadlines will make you work consistently and faster towards your goal. Working under pressure can also produce the best results.
• Take a break: If you’re on the job continuously, it can kill creativity. Taking a break from your writing project will give your mind rest and reenergize you. Use the Pomodoro Technique – set a timer for 25 minutes and wok till it goes off. Then take a five-minute break. This time management technique breaks the workdown into short, timed intervals and helps you get through your task more easily.

Many writing tasks involve transcribing from recordings. As you focus on your core writing project, you can always rely on an experienced audio transcription service provider to convert these recordings quickly into error-free text.