I was cracking jokes with my colleague the other weekend on how at some point, writers may feel like they are working for Division. The division is a secret service department which sends its field agents for very dangerous missions to retrieve something or curb crimes and save the day.  Despite the hardships these agents go through and being the nation`s heroes, they are never seen in the breaking news. You will never see them on the Forbes cover magazine either, instead, the secret service gets credit for it. Maybe because it is their job and responsibility, but that is a story for another day.

When I made my first step into the freelance industry, I remember burning the midnight oil and typing so many words until my fingers literary turned red at some point. I used to call it "bleeding fingers". It is sad that the masters or the PhD student I was doing the assignment or project for, will be the one who will receive the credit and I will be the ghostwriter behind the scenes. But at the end of the day, I wasn’t the one graduating anyway.
I gave my students chances to share on what they went through in the field after the training and I wasn’t surprised they went through the same thing. Lucky for them, I was around and wouldn’t let them face what I went through yet I had solutions at hand.

So as for you too, I have compiled 5 best tips to produce high quality work very fast and avoid bleeding fingers too.

1. Use a writer’s skeleton


In simple language, it is called a writing script. You may have a topic in mind but don`t have the fine details on what it is involved. In this case, you have to jot down some building words that will eventually form the whole article. In case you are a blogger, you may also need to check for nice high-quality pictures to use in your blog in advance. Compile all these and add up the remaining details and you will be amazed how easy your work will be.

2. Don’t burn your fingers

Once a writer is always a writer.  However, have you ever found yourself in a situation where you feel like not writing even a single letter? Or feel the urge to write so much but when you get into the zone you run out of words? In the writers’ empire, this situation is called burnout.   Burnouts are very dangerous to a writer`s career and can draw you away from the writing spirit for long until you quit.

 Burnouts may be as a result of discouragement from challenges in the industry or other life situations pushing you to the wall. So you don’t feel like writing? Why not try reading.  You can grab an inspirational book that gives you 101 tips on how to get out of your situation. If not then, you can try catching an inspirational movie too. If all fails you can find a mentor who will be with you in every step of the way.

At clear phrases writing academy, we train students on how to keep the writing spirit and keep track of their day to day writing activities. You can be part of the team and we can rig you into a writing ``rehab`` that will supercharge your skills into a genius anytime any day.

3. Know your writing cycle

Every person has a time when they do something they love to their level best. This means that even as a writer, you are naturally hardwired to reliably put down some marvellous finishing maybe during dawn or in the cloak of night. This is the time when inspirations flock in your mind and can write for hours producing quality work.  It is advisable to do that tweeting, text or receive calls some other time out of your inspiration zone.  At times you can get work out of your inspiration time zone but it is important to utilize this time to the maximum.


4. Be ABC simple

At times writers and bloggers write wandering thoughts that even a reader take too long to decipher and comprehend. You can dope in those niceties and punch lines but never overthink and use extra words that you will end up scrapping them out in the long run. You can be a writing genius but you will need to make people understand what you mean. If something does not avail itself to your mind in time, don’t wait or waste too much time researching for it. Just use what you already have as long as you stick to the topic and be precise.

5. Have content galore

This simply means be always a step ahead and armed with one two or three articles ready in case burnouts or deadlines shows up on your doorstep. As a blogger I find myself caught up in a lot of assignments that keep me busy and lack time to write posts. In such a case I normally grab an opportunity when I get some spare time and write a number of posts and keep them for a rainy day.  When the time comes to publish these posts I don’t have to write them from square one, I only need to polish and give a few touches and make them high quality. It is advisable as a writer, you never run dry of ready content and articles. You may be required to present samples of your best work and find yourself in a fix where all the best articles you have, have not been put down on paper.

Parting shot

Therefore, whether new or established, you should not struggle with challenges alone. Freelance writing has been there for decades. Therefore, there must be several people who have gone through what you are facing now and made it. Why not ask them and save that time to battle with new challenges that do not have solutions yet?

From the bottom of my heart, Wishing you all the best