Little-Known Hacks to Write 10x Faster for Ambitious Writers
Writing is hard. It takes too much time to write a single blog post.
For you to become a successful online writer, you need to produce 10x more than you are currently producing. Writing online is a numbers game without compromising its quality.
Writers are like magicians. They juggle different tasks at hand to be successful and make a living. Sadly, when a writer fails to manage their time, it can lead to burnout.
You don’t have to experience burnout just to be a successful writer.
As Tim Denning said,
Writing a lot is not about typing faster or working harder. It’s about having the right process to make better progress.
That’s why I’d like to share what I just discovered on how to write faster while making the most of your life.
Are you ready? Here they are…
Smart Notes
A method called “Zettelkasten”, created by Luhmann, helps thousands of writers write 10x faster on the internet. It’s a database of notes. Some people call it a “second brain”, while others refer to it as a “digital garden”.
The idea is to take Smart notes while reading articles, listening to podcasts, or watching videos. This way, instead of writing manually, you can collect ideas from previous notes, connect them together, and turn them into a blog post. You can then spend more time editing, instead of spending 4–5 hours on rough drafts.
I know many writers won’t agree, and will comment that taking smart notes will take time, and that just setting up and learning how to do it will require hundreds of hours.
This was my mindset before, too.
But I came to realize that doing hard things first that you know will make your life easier in the long term is a great gift to yourself.
Learning how to take smart notes will take time.
Writing while consuming content will also take time.
But keep in mind that you’re not just taking smart notes, you’re creating a writing system that will save you from long hours of writing.
It works for many people, so why not for you?
Smart Notes can revolutionize the way you write.
1. It creates a Generation Effect
The “Generation Effect” is about creating your own words, materials, or versions of what you have studied and consumed.
For example, I am creating my own definition of the “Generation Effect” as I understand it after reading articles about the subject.
This way, I’m actively learning by creating my own, rather than just passively reading. There are other ways to use the “Generation Effect” too, such as while learning how to code and memorizing anything.
2. It retains information seven times
Research shows that, on average, we forget 50% of what we’ve learned within an hour; this phenomenon is known as the “forgetting curve”.
In 24 hours, people forget 75% on average, and 90% on average within a week. For writers, forgetting what they’ve consumed can be a major obstacle to writing well.
To increase knowledge retention, taking smart notes can help. In fact, there is a “magic of writing stuff down”.
3. It helps you write content 10x faster
Writing smart notes while consuming content and creating your own material allows you to publish, connect ideas, and turn them into a blog post. This also encourages creativity by giving you more ideas from what you’ve written.
Smart notes can shorten the process of creating a blog, which usually takes 7 hours (idea generation, research, keyword analysis, rough draft, editing, and headline writing), to 1–3 hours. Try it and experience its magical effects!
4. Making more money is the side effect!
Making more money and saving more time through writing are just the effects of writing smart notes and building your second brain.
Now that you’ve created a writing system that you can use for years to improve the way you live and write, it’s time to reap the rewards of that system.
Remember, to succeed in the online writing game: it’s about playing the numbers game without sacrificing the quality of your work while not getting insane!
Start learning to write 10x faster
Smart note-taking is not my idea; I discovered it from writers who have achieved success in writing. These experts make six-figures a year from writing, so it’s clear that this method is highly effective.
If you want to get ahead of your writing skills, these prominent online writers have created courses to help you benefit from this method:
Additional Hacks to Increase Writing Speed
Smart note-taking is a proven technique used by successful online writers. However, they also use other hacks to increase their output of articles, social media posts, and books. Here are some of them…
1. Creating Your Own Adrenaline Rush
Writing faster can be achieved by creating your own adrenaline rush. Writers such as Todd Brison and Jon Morrow have mentioned this on their blogs. Here are some hacks to create one on your own:
- Time yourself for exactly an hour of writing. Aim to write 1000+ words in that time, generating ideas and writing a rough draft. Don’t focus on editing, spelling, or grammar. If an hour is too short, make it two. More than two hours and your brain will likely tire.
- Unplug your laptop. Leave your power cord at home when you go to a coffee shop to write. This story is from Todd Brison. He accidentally left his power cord at home and only had an hour of battery life. Instead of doing nothing, he wrote as much as he could and generated as many ideas as possible in that time. The article he wrote ended up being one of his top hits!
2. Convert videos and podcasts to text using transcription
Nowadays, creators are becoming increasingly creative in how they repurpose their content.
If you create video content or have a podcast, you can use transcriptions to create a blog. This hack is also great for people who prefers speaking rather than writing.
You’ll need to do some editing and SEO optimization, but you’ll save at least 70% of the time it takes to write content similar to your videos or podcasts.
3. Use AI tools as your research assistant
Right now, AI writing tools are not as reliable as they seem, but you can use them as your research assistant.
Great writing requires an incredible amount of research.
Imagine if you could apply all the techniques — from using AI as your research assistant, writing smart notes to creating your own adrenaline rush while writing — you could definitely create a massive shift in your writing speed.
Curious how I’ve written this blog?
80% of this content came from my digital garden. 20% are new written words, mostly the introduction and conclusion part.
Since I just started building my digital garden last week, I spent 3 hours writing and editing. My goal is to write and publish posts in an hour or less, which would make my writing 10x faster.
Ready to start your own journey?
Reading great content on the internet can be inspiring, but real change only happens when we act upon what we’ve read. So, I wish you will apply these hacks, search for more resources, and execute them in your next blog post. Good luck and I wish the best for you!
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Let’s keep in touch,
