I take forever to write one article!

[Kiernansmom]

Honestly one thing that helps me save some time is remembering that the majority of articles online are going to be scanned by people, not read in-depth. This is especially true of SEO articles. There is no need for it to be perfect as far as phrasing, as I'm not writing a poem or a book. I make sure each article has good points, correct grammar, and includes the necessary keywords, and that's it. I can usually write 2-3 an hour. It also helps to write what you know. I love writing the pregnancy/getting pregnant articles at WG, for example, because I'm experiencing all that now so I do not even have to research. Plus, it's interesting to me. It definitely takes some practice, but you will get there!

[tenderone]

Originally Posted by Kiernansmom

Honestly one thing that helps me save some time is remembering that the majority of articles online are going to be scanned by people, not read in-depth. This is especially true of SEO articles. There is no need for it to be perfect as far as phrasing, as I'm not writing a poem or a book. I make sure each article has good points, correct grammar, and includes the necessary keywords, and that's it. I can usually write 2-3 an hour. It also helps to write what you know. I love writing the pregnancy/getting pregnant articles at WG, for example, because I'm experiencing all that now so I do not even have to research. Plus, it's interesting to me. It definitely takes some practice, but you will get there!

I will have to keep that in mind. I write about topics that I love -- health, family, children, education (and I would LOVE to write about OB/GYN-related topics) -- but I find that I am trying to create an article that is as perfect as I can, especially with TB as I know that they review them and "grade" you on them. I would like to keep my 4 status for now with the hopes of moving up to a 5.

[seattlejan]

Originally Posted by tenderone

Thank you all for sharing!

What is taking me so long is rewriting, rewriting, rewriting. I will type something up and then think of something else even better and work on rephrasing it or I will rearrange the entire article. The research takes me no time at all, and I type close to 90 wph. I work when my children are napping, and I make it a habit to leave checking my email for after I am done. I am my own worst enemy. LOL!

I am a perfectionist, so I know that that doesn't help.

Aha! I see exactly what's going on here. I have the same disease.

Perfectionism can be a killer.

Here's the deal, though. You have to pretty much go cold turkey and realize that most of these content mill articles just aren't worth that kind of time and effort.

I used to write computer books, for which I DID get paid enough to rewrite and indulge my perfectionism a bit, but even then, I NEVER felt that a chapter was completely finished. At a certain point, you just have to let it go, or you miss deadlines and don't get paid.

There's ALWAYS something you can say better, or a section you can rework. And that will be the case for EVERYTHING you write. For ever and ever and ever.

I will give you the same advice I continually give myself. GET OVER IT!

I say this lovingly and kindly, because I know just how hard it is to let go of your concept of perfection, and of wanting to "do it right."

You might try writing a couple of articles just as fast as you can, then giving them a quick read-through. If they make basic sense, if they have a beginning, middle, and end, they're probably good enough. Yep, "good enough" should be your new mantra.

Sure, run a spell check, proofread the article for grammar and flow, but if you want to make money at this, you simply cannot afford to obsess.

I am now going to send this post, because it's... GOOD ENOUGH

[tenderone]

Originally Posted by seattlejan

Aha! I see exactly what's going on here. I have the same disease.

Perfectionism can be a killer.

Here's the deal, though. You have to pretty much go cold turkey and realize that most of these content mill articles just aren't worth that kind of time and effort.

I used to write computer books, for which I DID get paid enough to rewrite and indulge my perfectionism a bit, but even then, I NEVER felt that a chapter was completely finished. At a certain point, you just have to let it go, or you miss deadlines and don't get paid.

There's ALWAYS something you can say better, or a section you can rework. And that will be the case for EVERYTHING you write. For ever and ever and ever.

I will give you the same advice I continually give myself. GET OVER IT!

I say this lovingly and kindly, because I know just how hard it is to let go of your concept of perfection, and of wanting to "do it right."

You might try writing a couple of articles just as fast as you can, then giving them a quick read-through. If they make basic sense, if they have a beginning, middle, and end, they're probably good enough. Yep, "good enough" should be your new mantra.

Sure, run a spell check, proofread the article for grammar and flow, but if you want to make money at this, you simply cannot afford to obsess.

I am now going to send this post, because it's... GOOD ENOUGH

You have me smiling!! I am my own worst enemy. I am going to have to train myself. It's going to be hard, but I will re-read your article over and over if I have to. Yes, your article was GOOD ENOUGH - in fact, it was great! Even after rewriting, cutting and pasting, etc., I still feel like it could be better. It makes writing frustrating, and I don't want it to be. I love writing, and it is a part of who I am. Perhaps that is why I have to have it "perfect." Uh-oh, I'm starting to edit my own post here. I need to S.T.O.P.

[seattlejan]

Originally Posted by tenderone

Even after rewriting, cutting and pasting, etc., I still feel like it could be better.

Of course it could be better! That's it in a nutshell. Nothing is ever perfect. Among perfectionists, that's the bane of our existence.

Just repeat after me... GOOD ENOUGH!

And keep saying it...

[skcandles]

I agree with Jan. While we want things to be perfect, there is a point where it is not feasible. Are you getting paid enough to make a decent income with only 1 article per hour and a half? If so, then that is fine, but if you want to increase your earnings, then something has to give. And honestly, if you are writing an article that you are only being paid $5 (just an example, i have no clue) then it likely is not worth being perfect

[tenderone]

Originally Posted by seattlejan

Of course it could be better! That's it in a nutshell. Nothing is ever perfect. Among perfectionists, that's the bane of our existence.

Just repeat after me... GOOD ENOUGH!

And keep saying it...

So funny as I have been saying it over and over again.

[tenderone]

Originally Posted by skcandles

I agree with Jan. While we want things to be perfect, there is a point where it is not feasible. Are you getting paid enough to make a decent income with only 1 article per hour and a half? If so, then that is fine, but if you want to increase your earnings, then something has to give. And honestly, if you are writing an article that you are only being paid $5 (just an example, i have no clue) then it likely is not worth being perfect

I am getting paid poorly for the quality of the work I am producing. I am going to have to learn to let it go. It's going to be hard, but it's what I'm going to have to do.

[DARMAR]

I know how you feel. I tend to be a perfectionist, too. It is money-killer in this business. I started out almost agonizing over the perfect word to use in many sentences. I was spending almost 2 hrs. on $4.00 articles. I read many posts on here and WPLH regarding writing faster. I got some great info that has helped me. I have tried writing different ways to increase my speed. I take an article, usually go to ezine.com and put the keywords in there search area. Scan a few articles. I then find 2 ideas to write about. Those are my 2 paragraphs.I stopped fretting so much about my introduction when I read somewhere that it may be easier to write the article 1st, and then write the intro as you then have a good idea of what to write about.

Also, you could try changing the way you are writing articles. For example, I started hand-writing my research, then typing it where it should belong in the article. That was slowing me down. So, I then started typing the research directly into the article area, then picking those sections as needed and placing them where I wanted them within the article. That did speed things up a bit. Before long, I found that I was researching and writing at the same time. That has really helped.

I continue to read any threads like this one to gather more info. I still want to become faster. But with some time, I find myself not being as concerned about being perfect. I had one TB article that I thought would be a re-write for sure, but it wasn't. That brought me to the realization that I really didn't need to be perfect.

Remember, you are a level 4, so obviously your writing is very good. You type very fast which is more than I can say for myself. Have some confidence in yourself and your abilities and you will increase your earnings!! HTH

[wordygirl]

Originally Posted by tenderone

Thank you all for sharing!

What is taking me so long is rewriting, rewriting, rewriting. I will type something up and then think of something else even better and work on rephrasing it or I will rearrange the entire article.

Here's an idea for you. Write the article the first time like you do now, but when you want to go over it and change things around, just use those new words to write a second article.

This will allow you to continue to indulge your tendency to rearrange and reword the original article, but your first draft can go to the mills while your second (more perfect) article can be put on Constant Content or Helium or Suite 101 or whatever where you will be paid more for it. So for the same amount of time, research and work you will receive more than twice the pay.

Important: to make this work, you cannot rewrite the first one twenty times. BUT you could rewrite and sell it twenty times