How You Can Write Fast 🏃♀️📝 (So You Can Live Slow!)
My Speed Writing Tips + Book Writing Calendar
I love writing fast. I know, some people will say, we should savour our writing like a fine wine. But I prefer to down mine like a shot of tequila. (Well, before I was sober.)
I’ve always been a speed writer. Blame my years as a junior reporter on daily newspapers when deadlines were fierce and not meeting them was a deal-breaker. (This was before Zoom calls and transcription software to accelerate the process.)
I love the hyper-focused feeling of falling into a writing rabbit hole, and emerging an hour later clutching a Word document I barely remember writing.
And then there’s the necessity.
Most of my authors are multi-hyphen people. Mums and business people and employees and caregivers … oh, and writers. We don’t have time to f-around.
But we have brilliant thoughts and life experiences that are well worthy of blogs, pods and memoirs.
So how do you write fast without relying on AI (except for spell-checking). Here are my mind-racing thoughts:
It’s all in the prep 🚿
It might only take me 20 mins to write a Substack or a day to write a long-form article, but the brainstorming has been done — in the shower, waiting for the kettle to boil, sitting in a traffic jam. The writing is only the cherry on the cake of the creative process.
Write as you talk 🎙️
The reason you can’t write fast? You’re trying to write as somebody else. It doesn’t take you ten attempts to have a conversation with a mate because you’re chatting as you: your tone, your voice, your views. As soon as you write authentically, your speed accelerates.
You don’t need more skill, you need more scaffold.
Despite being a bit of a hippy, I don’t just sit and “channel” the writing gods. I have a writing schedule and I’m a stickler for a chapter breakdown when writing my books.
It reminds me of having newborns: our life was free and wild because we had a strict nap schedule we stuck too. It gave us the structure to allow us to chase joy and adventure around it. The same is true for writing. The more structure we have, the more we can relax into it.
🗓️ I just shared my book writing calendar for the first time. This is big news as it’s usually this is only accessible to writers in my writing immersion program, and it’s a sanity saver. My authors love it because it erases procrastination, overthinking and overwhelm. And it’s designed for busy jugglers, not full-time authors. You can download a copy of the calendar here.
Confidence is key (verging on obnoxious!)
The more you write, the more confident you get, and the faster you can be — whatever you’re writing about. Whether I’m ghost writing a speech for a politician or a memoir for an influencer, I know I’m good at it, so I’m fast at it. (As women, we’re not conditioned to say that, even when it’s true, but you’ve got to own it.)
Embrace your imperfection
People love to email me and tell me about spelling mistakes in my books. Did you get the gist? Then I’m okay with it. The passionate pitches I send my editor — including spelling mistakes — are usually the ones that get a yes. I sold a book on one excited paragraph with 10 exclamation marks and three typos. Passion overrides perfection.
(And you can always ask AI to spellcheck it — use this prompt so it doesn’t butcher it!)
Follow the speed 🏃♀️
Personally, if I'm taking a frustratingly long time to write something, it’s usually for two reasons: I’m sick and sleep deprived. Or I’m not the right person to be writing about it. When I’m pitching article ideas to my editors, if I can’t even find my flow in the pitch, I sure as hell won’t be able to find it an article — so I ditch it. Follow the topics that spark your fingertips.
You’re gonna see it again! 🌀
When my authors are overthinking, I always remind them of this: you have multiple rounds of edits ahead, plus a legal edit, and you’ll read it on layout. This isn’t the last time you’ll see this book, baby! At least let your first draft be fast and loose, and enjoy it.
I have a formula:
● Write a first draft on my desktop.
● Save it to Gdrive and edit it on my phone. There’s something about seeing it on a different device from a new location that allows me to see mistakes I’ve missed, and gain a new perspective. It also helps to change the fonts — same reason.
● Email it to myself and then read it again the next morning.
*And find a good editor you trust to cut the fluff for you!
Not everything I write fast is good. However, the things I write slowly are usually worse. Because if it takes me a painfully long time to form my views, I’m probably not meant to be writing about that topic.
The best part of all this? I write fast but I live slow. 🐓 When I’m not typing at speed, I’m living slow coastal life, swimming in the ocean, hanging with my babies and chatting to our chickens. This is not an article in praise of a fast-paced hustle culture. It’s about enjoying the adrenaline ride of creativity, so you can have more time for a well-rounded slow life.
And trusting your brilliant mind to sprint once in a while!
Amy x
