How to Write Faster Without AI
Sometimes, the human touch is all you need.
By now, we’ve all seen it. ChatGPT and other generative AI tools spit out text like there’s no tomorrow, thousands and thousands of words in the span of a few minutes. Of course, the quality of those words is dubious, at best, but it’s undeniable that no human alive can compete with the incredible writing speed of a chatbot. However, if you produce quality writing in a reasonable timeframe, you can still outcompete AI in the content production arena (for now, at least).
Unfortunately, the speed with which AI creates content is likely to increase the expectations placed on human writers. As the demand for content increases right along with AI-driven output, human writers may have to speed up their writing processes to compete with chatbots. Deadlines will likely get tighter. Output expectations will probably increase, and even clients who prefer human writers may wind up expecting us to work faster while maintaining the same quality.
The good news is there are a few strategies you can use to increase the speed with which you produce quality content — as long as you don’t skip the proofread, that is. You will never write as fast as ChatGPT, true, but when you offset your inferior human speed with superior quality and give your output a little boost, you can keep yourself in the ever-evolving content creation game.
I’ll be the first to admit that my content production for Medium is pretty inconsistent, but this is mostly due to the fact that I have multiple other writing gigs. On average, I pump out around 3,000 words per day, sometimes twice that, using the strategies I’ve listed in this piece. Keep in mind that none of these tips eliminates the need for proofreading. In fact, some of them make self-editing even more vital, so it’s important to ensure you don’t skip a thorough proofread after finishing each piece.
Use Speech to Text
One of the simplest solutions for writing faster is using speech-to-text technology. Most of us talk much faster than we type. The average typing speed is 40 to 60 words per minute, while the average talking speed is anywhere from 100 to 200 words per minute. The fastest typists in the world might be able to keep up with the lower end of the talking speed range, but unless you type insanely fast and talk insanely slow, there is no way you type as fast as you speak.
Take advantage of this fact by using your phone keyboard’s speech recognition software. Most devices have solid speech recognition nowadays, and there are also plenty of speech-to-text apps to choose from. If you don’t like your phone’s speech recognition software, try one of them.
Be aware you may have to learn how to talk for optimum speech recognition. Those of us with stronger accents may have to enunciate more than we otherwise would. Most people will also have to speak slower than they would for a normal conversation. Still, you’d be surprised at how fast you learn to speak so that a computer can understand. Once you learn to talk to your devices, you’ll pump out the same quality and quantity of text in half the time.
Create Templates
If you write a lot of content on similar topics or even the same topic, it might be a good idea to create outline templates to help speed up your drafting process. Each template should represent an article type and be geared toward a specific topic. For instance, you might have a long-form and short-form template for the same topic or several short-form templates for slightly different topics.
I use angle brackets or parentheses to denote where information specific to each article should go. For example, let’s say I have an outline template talking about how different kinds of storms form. I might have angle brackets that allow me to insert different storm types in the headings.
For example:
- How <> Form
- The Recipe of a <>
- Conditions that Prevent <> from Forming
- How to Prepare for a <>
Once I have that template, I can insert any storm type I want into the headings. I can write about hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, or any other weather-related hazard by changing a couple of words in my outline template. And since the topics are different, all of the articles will come out unique, even though they have a consistent layout.
Write in Chunks
One of my favorite things about my phone is it enables me to work from just about anywhere. If I’m at the doctor’s office, standing in line at the grocery store, or sitting around the mechanic waiting room, I can be working. All I need is an environment where I can focus, and I can be pumping out content. While this is great for writing fast, it requires me to start and stop frequently. This means I need to write in chunks.
Writing in chunks can help you even if you don’t write when you’re trapped in boring situations. Many of us who grew up with social media and smartphones in our hands don’t have the greatest attention spans, so writing an article (especially a long-form article) section by section can help alleviate some of the time-sink that comes along with losing steam. Lots of breaks and writing in smaller chunks can help stave off boredom and increase stamina, which can increase your output and decrease your writing time.
Avoid Topics that Require Research
The old adage goes, “Write what you know,” and this is especially true for those who want to pump out content fast. Of course, you shouldn’t avoid topics that require you to do research all the time, but if you need to get words on the page quickly, research is one of the biggest factors that will slow you down. Thus, if you have the freedom to choose your topics and have a fast-approaching deadline, avoid writing about a subject you don’t know well.
This isn’t to say that you should never cite sources or fact-check. Indeed, these are two areas where AI still falls flatter than a flapjack. Most chatbots are infamous for pulling plausible but factually incorrect information out of their artificial asses, so your inclusion of reputable references can go a long way towards distinguishing yourself from AI.
If you write on a certain set of topics frequently, keep a database of credible sources and links for quick reference. Even a simple, searchable spreadsheet is sufficient. That way, including links and sources in your posts won’t take up too much of your time.
Bottom Line
All the speed-boosting hacks in the world won’t make you as fast as AI. That’s just a fact. However, there are plenty of ways you can enhance your human speed without sacrificing your equally human creativity or quality.
Keep in mind that even if you do take steps to improve your writing speed, you should never prioritize that over quality. Avoid getting in such a hurry that you fail to thoroughly proofread your work, especially if you work with clients. You want to offer writing that is polished, unique, and professional.
Right now, these qualities are not on offer from chatbots. Will that change in the future? Probably. But for the time being, at least, quality over quantity is the best way for us lowly humans to compete with AI.
