This is a question that I often ask myself and other bloggers. How long does it take you to write an average blog post? For me, it varies greatly. My last post about the Facebook Garage took just 10 minutes. However, I have spent as much as 3 hours on a post.
Generally, the most time consuming posts are the ReviewMe reviews because they require that I do some research. For other posts, the actually writing time isn’t that long, it’s all the research that goes into it that takes up the most time.
Sometime, It Takes Longer To Think What To Write
I’m sure you’ve been in this situation before - you need to update your blog but you got nothing to write about. You can spend more time thinking about what to write than actually writing. Have that ever happen to you? This is why I love the Wordpress Timestamp so much. I often get multiple post ideas at once. When that happens, I try to write them all down and Timestamp them before I forget about them.
If you ever get into a situation where you have nothing to blog about, then check out my Five Things To Do When You Have Nothing To Blog About. It rarely happens to me, but when it does happen, that is the list I go through.
And this blog post took five minutes. How long does your post take?
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A lot depends on how well you type. If you don’t type well, it’s worth taking an online class to improve this skill. The better you get at typing, the less time you have to spend on actually writing the post and can spend more time on the content. One of the best investments you can make as a blogger.
I learnt how to type quickly by opening 5 conversation windows on MSN. …
It works.
4 conversations on MSN +4 conversations on yahoo and all of them are girls
If you type slow, you loose the girls
So you know you don’t have any reason not to type fast
Typing is quick for me. If the post requires research, like a typical personal finance topic, it may take me 2-3 solid hours to complete one. If it’s one about my own experience and I am able to write from memory, then it usually only takes me less than 1 hour.
-Raymond
I agree. It’s the research that takes the time.
You are bang on. Those that can touch type due to earlier familiarity with a typewriter can do this faster.
Not only typing, sometimes many things are the cause of a blog post that we need to think a hour or something.
It happens so that I have the idea i start writing it and at a certain point I halt because I have to think if thats the right term or not, if it should be used in plural or not…and feck, half idea I have already forget, so I have to log off and finish the post once my idea comes back to me.
I don’t think typing really has that much to do with it. I’m sure most bloggers type very fast. It’s more about the brain effort.
Writing a post takes me anywhere from 10 mins (if its posting a video) up to 8+ hours if its a massive post that needs lots of research. My average is probably about 1-2 hours.
It usually takes me between 10-15 minutes. I like to format my posts with images, so that takes a bit more time. If I have to research a topic first, of course it takes longer.
I spend 20 mins on average on each post.
Same here ! Its more headed to 30 mins than 20 though
Normally I jot down all my idea on my PDA (only the subject and rough idea). Using my PDA later on, I will write a simple (below than 50 word) decription about my idea.
The when the time come I will write the longer version of it on my blogs. It give me unlimited blog issue to bring on to.
Post development times do greatly vary. My posts can take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour to develop. It’s not so much the typing that takes up time time but rather the elaboration of ideas.
It depends. Sometimes it’s so enjoyable you just get carried away with the time. Other times you just want to finish a post as quick as possible. But mostly, we take our time, no rush.
It is the carried away with the time that I don’t like, I called it procrastination and that is really not good for me. I know blogging must be enjoyable but at the same time we must have self-discipline.
I take around 20-25 mins to write one post. But as you said even I have spent hours and hours on some posts.
When I have chatted to our bloggers about this I always get a varied response. It seems to relate a bit to personality. Some people are more perfectionist than others. It is like throwing a baseball. At some point you gotta let go of the ball. And some people just dont want to let it go until they have counted every stitch, where others throw it like its a hot potato.
Some people can read 100 feeds in no time, where for others it takes ages. Writing and research. The two sides of great blog posting. Some are strong on one side more than another. Personally, I would rather out source both!
You are right. The bloggers with clear thoughts and communications skills blog faster and those that need to refer to other material slower. The fastidious also are slower. This is just as you have pointed out, like those who can speed read and those who can not.
Hours, days, years, endless amounts of valuable time wasted with a blank mind on an empty journey… Well like you said depends…
It takes me about 10-15 minutes for a 500 word post.
John, there’s all sorts of ‘101 post idea’ posts around the place. If I ever got stuck I would use those.
Rather than timestamp, I write all my posts in Google Notebook. Then when I feel like posting it, I copy it in to wp-admin and have a scan to make sure there’s no mistakes before posting.
I used to have difficulty writing posts but then completely wh0red one of my blogs out to Paid Posting. This has done SO much for my writing skills as it has forced me to be creative in the way I write, and the way I approach a task, in order to put out something of decent length and content. If you can routinely write about something you’re not interested in at all, it will make it much easier to write about something you are passionate about.
That is very fast… how can you write good content so fast!
It usually takes me a few cigarettes to finish a post. The smoking is more of a distraction slacker technique though.
I tried this till I found that my keyboard was getting a lot of ash inside and vacuuming was not worth the effort. I blog slower but cleaner now!
Thinking about what to write usually takes up a whole lot of my time. If I can finally find out the perfect thing to write about the actual composition of it usually does not take that long.
I have spent many hours at a time (4-8 hours) focusing only on finding a topic to write about. Writer’s block and procrastination seem to be a couple of friends of mine which I hate.
On average, it takes me about 20 minutes to an hour to write a post. Kinda long, but they’re high-quality.
20 minutes is not long. If you read through other comments, there are some who took longer than you. Apparently, 20 minutes is considered as fast for me.
Yes, 20 minutes is fast. That’s why I said it takes me an average of 20 minutes to over an hour. The 20 minutes is usually just for my simple and short News articles, not pillar articles. You don’t even want to ask me how long it takes me to write pillar articles. The time it takes me to write them, search for an image for a visual, and proofreading takes more than an hour and lots of work.
to me it depends on what I am writing about. If its something I read and write my views, it wont take that long. But if its something that i just thought about it might take a while to put it in writing and make my thoughts readable and understandable
It all depends on what I’m writing about. I spent 2 and a 1/2 hrs in a cafe one day typing for my blog!!! Another day I could be finished in 10 or 15 mins.
Mike
At least an hour usually more. Typlexia. Consistantly the right key, right finger, wrong hand.
I have even managed to teach Dragon Naturally Speaking to misspel words. Still, I blog.
I have two blogs. One in English. One in Chinese. Usually I would spend more time on the English blog, it is because I speak English as a second language. It is a little challenging to me.
If the numbers are right, you have surpassed Shoemoney now. I just got the screeshots in my site. Congratulations!
It all depends on What i’m blogging about. If I have a decent post to try and write I will find some where nice to relax and get stuck into it, I spent 2 and a 1/2 hrs one day in a cafe with a cup of tea and got stuck into it. And I think I might do that again today as I enjoyed it so much the last time.
Mike
It usually takes me about 30 mins to an hour to write an article… I do my best to write authority articles. Once in awhile I write quick and helpful tips as well.
Cheers,
Carlo Selorio
It usually takes me about 5 minutes for a post since I like to micro-blog, meaning I don’t spend whole lotta time thinking. BUT sometimes I spent couple days for DIYs or anything that gets to be very very long…
Often upwards of 20 minutes to write a post ….. i tend to rewrite portions and jig it about a bit.
Definitely varies a lot. When I write parts of my “Super Affiliate Guide”, it takes 2-3 hours. Then I write simple follow up posts or announcements that only take 10 mins or so.
Usually 30 mins-1 hour. The record so far is 2 days though.
It depends on the type of post. Some will take 5-10 minutes, others up to 2-3hours…
I give myself an hour to write, edit and post it to my blog.
It takes my around 30 minutes to craft an article or a blog post. And I use the timestamp feature everyday. Like you, I love it very much especially when I go outstation.
Ideas could come anytime. This is where my handphone and mp3 player come handy when I do not have pens and papers or laptop with me.
I just have to say and record it.
Something idea do not come and we can’t write anything else..
And I just sleep only..
I can type quickly so writing doesn’t take long. But the research can take hours.
It simply doesn’t matter.
Remember your last post John where you said as long as your having fun.
Absolutely, it is not about the quantity, it is all about the quality and how close to your heart the subject matter is.
one or two days. In the end it turns out to be something completely different that what I started with
Most take less than 5 minutes
My fastest post was about ten minutes. But my average time is above 1h. But I’m rookie blogger.
The most important thing is that I see the progress
15-25 minutes to type the initial draft and then anywhere up to a couple of hours of just looking at it until it sounds right.
research takes the most time, 20 minutes generally
Update - John Chow has just pass Shoemoney in the RSS Feed counter by around 1000 readers!
This is totally dependant on the blogger as you mention. To those who enjoy its fast and to those do not, its slow.
It doesn’t take me about 30 mins to complete a post, but picking the topic usually takes me a solid hour
It really depends on the topic. If its a spontaneous thing then it takes 5-10 minutes. But if it is a research based thought oriented post then it takes from few hours to few days.