Speed Writing Guide

Chances are you have heard of speed reading. But what about speed writing? Speed writing involves producing content quickly (but then later revising what you initially produce with great care). Now it is not possible to speed write at the pace that some people can speed read, but it is possible to write more quickly than you currently do by using a few key tips and strategies for writing faster.

The main speed writing method described in this Hub is the “stream of consciousness” technique. This strategy involves choosing a topic to write about and then allowing yourself to just “riff” on that topic much like an improvising jazz musician in a sort of “writing jam session.” This is a great way to produce rough drafts, but you will definitely not want to submit or publish these initial drafts without reviewing and revising them, often rather substantially.

The idea is to get all your ideas on a given subject down on paper, and then, as mentioned earlier, to go back and organize and polish them later on. Some writers experience severe writer’s block from time to time, and this “stream of consciousness” speed writing exercise is not only useful for getting a first draft down on paper (or on your computer screen). It is also highly effective for defeating writer’s block.

Let’s say you end up writing in this improvisational or ad lib fashion on a given topic for two or three pages. Granted, several of the paragraphs that you produce might not be usable. They might not even be decipherable. But just think of this initial draft that you create using this speed writing technique as your “diamond in the rough.” You will likely be able to go through that draft sentence by sentence later on and come up with some real gems that you can actually use (albeit in revised form) in the final draft that you write on the topic at hand.

Whether you decide to use this speed writing/stream of consciousness/jamming jazz musician technique to break out of a writer’s block or to just to get a super rough (but still useful) first draft written quickly, you will find that it can be a great way to get your initial ideas down on paper (or on your computer screen).

Of course, it is very important to remember that speed writing is not particularly useful during the revision phase of the writing process. Indeed, when you are revising, you want to move at a much slower pace. You might even want to read your work out loud just to make sure the sentences are flowing well.

In other words, speed writing most certainly “has its place” in the writing process, but that place is at the beginning, not in the middle or at the end. The fact that speed writing is only useful at the beginning of the writing process does not diminish its value in any way, however. After all, if you don’t create that first draft (no matter how rough it might be), you will have nothing to revise later on.