How to Write a Rough Draft QUICKLY
The rough draft has 1 purpose and 1 purpose only:
- Get your idea from mind to reality.
This often happens best when you write a rough draft quickly.
However, to do it quickly, we need to know a lot about the material.
If you don’t know a lot about the material, then you are going to be in a weird spot.
You’re going to try writing, researching, and editing all at the same time!
That’s a recipe for disaster, my friend.
In this article, I am going to be sharing a few frameworks from my book:
You will learn how to write a rough draft quickly.
If you resonate with the ideas, you can purchase the book which I will promote again at the end of the article.
Let’s begin with the 1st step.
Know A lot
Great writers know a lot.
If they know a lot, then information just flows out of them.
Research is a must for writers.
‘Can you define research in 1 line, Armani?’
Sure.
Research is when you actively seek information on a subject/s.
Right now, I am writing about writing.
I have done a lot of research on this subject for the past 3 years.
I’ve been writing books on writing and have worked with clients on writing.
Therefore, my research is based on personal experience and learning from other authors.
This allows me to know a lot about the field.
When you are doing research, aim to cultivate a basic strategy.
A prototype of a basic strategy is:
- Use introspection to learn from yourself.
- Use the internet to learn from others.
Writing the Rough Draft
A rough draft is just that…
It’s rough.
We are not focused on grammar, punctuation, spelling, or any of that.
‘If I don’t focus on those, won’t my writing look messy?’
No. Not your final draft that is.
Just like we understand there is a segment in our writing process for research.
We should also understand a few other segments:
- Creation
- Editing
The rough draft falls under creation.
Editing is when you polish up.
So, don’t worry about your writing looking messy in the rough draft.
When in doubt while writing the rough draft, mentally say to yourself:
‘I’ll take care of that in editing.’
This mindset allows you to move with ferocity and conviction.
Timing Yourself
The mind is like a wild dog.
It needs to be put on a leash.
And you can put it on a leash by giving it numbers.
I don’t know what it is, but when you see a timer counting down, automatically, there is a level of urgency involved.
‘Do I need to physically see the timer counting down?’
No, you don’t. I normally turn on the timer on my phone, then put the phone on the ground and begin.
‘How do I know how long to set the timer for?’
That’s a good question.
If you are a complete newbie, then you may have no clue.
At this stage, I recommend using a stopwatch rather than a timer.
A stopwatch counts up while a timer counts down.
Record a few sessions of your writing to see how long it roughly takes you to fill up a designated word count.
For me, to do a rough draft of ~1000 words, it takes:
- 15-18-minutes.
If you are a veteran writer who has a good feel for how long to set the timer, I recommend you challenge yourself.
Let’s say it normally takes an hour to do the rough draft.
Challenge yourself to do it in 20 minutes.
Get your comfort amount and divide it by 2-3.
When you shave away time, you build urgency.
And when you build urgency, that’s when you write with the subconscious mind!
Always Overwrite
I want to share one of the most important cheat codes out there:
ALWAYS OVERWRITE DURING THE ROUGH DRAFT.
Always.
This is a way to write fearlessly.
Those who write like sissy’s in the rough draft section are like:
‘Geez, will this point help me move the plot forward? Oh no.. let me think some more.’
As they are thinking, they realize they have a timer counting down.
Now they begin panicking.
- Writing process = Ruined.
While a winner is like:
‘I’ll add it, why not? If it doesn’t flow, I’ll remove it in the editing section.’
Remember this:
- It’s much easier to shave away content rather than desperately trying to add in content.
Therefore, always overwrite.
This should be easy if you did your research properly beforehand.
Final Words on How to Write a Rough Draft Quickly
Here’s a beginner’s challenge:
- Write a ~1000-word essay about a painful moment that you overcame.
- Set a timer.
- I recommend setting the time limit low, so you build urgency to write fast.
- Overwrite.
Once time is up, I want you to go and chill.
Take a break.
‘Why don’t I immediately start editing?’
Just chill, fam.
Taking a break allows you to mentally separate creation from editing.
With editing, you can take all the time you need.
Since this is an essay about you, you don’t have to do any research.
Just use this exercise to practice learning how to write a rough draft quickly.
The quicker you write the rough draft, the more you begin to understand there are segments to writing:
- Research
- Creation
- Editing
- Proofread
- Publish
I only talked about rough drafts in this article.
If you want to learn more about how to use essays and short stories to build your digital empire, then be sure to get my book:
This book will teach you:
- How to use logical analysis to break down complex subjects.
- How to write a rough draft fast.
- A proven framework for editing.
- The art of proofreading.
- How to overcome imposter syndrome and hit publish.
- And plenty of other topics!!
GET HERE:
– ArmaniTalks 
