Tuesday’s writing tip for authors

Have you ever added up all of the time you spend writing each day? Not just time you spend writing your book, but all of the time you spend doing all types of writing.

The average individual might be surprised to learn how much time they actually spend on writing tasks like:

• E-mail
• Blogging
• Tweeting
• New business proposals
• Client and customer correspondence
• Reports

These “routine” forms of writing are in addition to “eventful,” or formal, writing for:

• Speeches and presentations
• Marketing materials, like newsletters and permission-based marketing incentives like white papers
• E-books
• Books

Doesn’t it make sense…

Because you’re likely to spend a sizeable part of your day on writing-related activities, doesn’t it make sense to explore ways to write as efficiently as possible? There are several paths you could explore:

Software tools

One approach would be to explore software efficiency tools like:

• Mind mapping, that helps you plan before you write, and export your ideas to word processing and software programs for completion, formatting, and distribution. Try mind mapping for 45 days here.
• Text substitution software, like Active Words, , that help you save time and reduce mistakes by eliminating repetitive typing.
• Dictation software, like Nuance’s Dragon Natural Language transcription software that can triple your productivity.

Systems

Another way to write more efficiently would be to create systems, perhaps based on simple worksheets you could fill out by hand before you began to write, that would  jumpstart your progress.

These worksheets could help you identify the goals of each project and provide you with a framework for completing each project.

Content hierarchy

The most efficient writing tool of all, of course, would be learning to create a content hierarchy that would leverage your core ideas through multiple projects.

A well thought-out content hierarchy would allow you to:

1. Identify your core ideas and nuggets of information.
2. Save them in a secure, easily-located and accessed location.
3. Leverage them into a variety of projects and formats, each time adding value to your core idea.

Levels in a content hierarchy

A content hierarchy might include the following elements:

• An idea appears in conversation, and is first written as a blog post.
• The idea is expanded into an e-mail newsletter or online article.
• The idea is reduced to an actionable tip.
• Ten tips are gathered together into a tip sheet.
• The original idea, plus others, are expanded into a chapter of a book.
• The chapter is used as the basis of a e-book or report targeting a specific vertical market or used to address a different problem.

The more you write, the greater the productivity gains you can enjoy by writing more efficiently.

Track your writing for one week

Track the time you spend on all types of writing projects this week.

While doing that, carefully note how often you’re able to leverage, reuse, or re-cycle your key ideas into new marketing and income-generating projects.

Let me know what you find out, or if you would like me to share some of the worksheets I’m preparing for tracking my own writing. After tracking your writing for a few days, share your experiences as comments, below.