Do you ever sit at your keyboard, ready to write a magnificent, life-changing blog post, article, or catalog, and then freeze?
Paralyzed by the length of your writing goal, you get up, walk away…and don’t return.
The more you write, and the quicker you can get your ideas out of your head and onto paper, the sooner you can start creating your content.
I’m a rather different kind of writer. I am a little antsy. I get up, I walk around, I get juices flowing, I sit down, I write again. I write like a runner doing wind sprints.
What do wind sprints have to do with writing?
Set your site on a goal.
Repeat.
How does it work?
- Mark out your mile.
- Next, pick your wind sprint markers – mailboxes or lampposts are great, they’re generally evenly spaced and there’s a bunch of them.
- When you start to run, set your timer. You’ll want to know how long it takes you to run your mile.
- Bang! You’re off.
- Jog to your first marker. Sprint (about 50% of your speed) from your first marker to your second marker. Jog from your second marker to your third marker. Sprint from marker 3 to 4. Jog from marker four to marker 5.
- Repeat until you finish your mile.
- For your final sprint – give it all you’ve got!
- Record how long it took you to run.
Let’s get to writing.
- You set a goal. Blog post, white paper, guide, product descriptions, or catalog.
- Get your pen & paper (or sit at your keyboard.)
- Choose the length you want to write.
- Bang! You’re off and writing!
- What’s the purpose of your message? Attraction? Teaching?
- Next, choose the main points you want to make – or 3-5 “how-to” steps. (This is your first “jog.”)
- Get all your main ideas out on paper/screen – write in clear bullet points. (This is your first sprint.)
- Organize your ideas into the steps or points you want to make. (Your next jog.)
- Start writing your content. Let it all out! Write without editing or stopping until your idea(s) are on the paper.(Your next sprint.)
- Now that your content is written, slow down to a jog. Get up from your writing, stretch, and do something that gets you away from your computer for a little while.
- For this next sprint, this is where you edit what you wrote and begin to tighten it up. Is this the message you meant to get across to your audience? Is it clear and concise? Is it giving the value you wanted your audience to have?
- Very nicely done! This is your last jog before you reach your goal. Read your work one more time. What do you think? Did you catch any spelling errors? Is your grammar correct?
- This is when you cross the finish line! PUBLISH IT! Your work is ready, now publish it to your blog, your email list, or the editor of the magazine your writing for.
That, is writing wind-sprints! Congratulations!
Keep this handy and use this technique every day. As you get used to it, your writing will become stronger and you’ll be a content writing whiz!
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