Online Class: Speed Writing 101

Course Motivation

There are many people who believe that they would learn more and ultimately do better in school if they could write faster so they could take better and more complete notes. There are other people who know that their lives would be so different if they could just mine all that material that is inside their head so that they could write and potentially publish that material. 

Both groups of people face the same problem. They simply can't write fast enough. This course will take you through a number of steps to learn Speedwriting, both for taking better and more complete notes, all the way to the point of being able to write faster and be much more productive with your writing time than ever before. 

Increasing the speed at which you take notes will certainly help you to become more successful in school, but only if you can read and understand those notes later, and if you practice these methods on a regular basis, turning them into the tools that they are meant to be. 

You will never master the techniques of speedwriting if you don't take the necessary time to practice these lessons and exercises. You'll need discipline to establish specific writing times and sticking to them. If you can't do these two things, you will defeat the purpose of this course, and you will be no better off than before you started. 

If, however, you intend to be smarter, wiser, more successful, and more prolific than the other people in your class, in your university, or your place of work, then you are in the right place.  

Taking Notes 

When discussing the various aspects of Speedwriting, one of the first complaints is, "I can't keep up with my instructor's lectures! He/She talks too fast!" 

If you have an instructor who provides copious notes on each lecture, you won't need this part of the course. However, most instructors believe that taking notes is part of the critical thinking aspect of any class. YOU have to decide what is important, and make a note of each important fact. 

In order to take fast and comprehensive notes, you need to apply a few writing shortcuts that might seem obvious when stated, but for most people, they are not. In this course, we will cover most of these shortcuts in enough depth that you will be taking faster and better notes in no time! 

Brainstorming 

You've all probably been involved in a "brainstorming" session, and most of the time the ideas come in slowly enough that the person at the front of the room is able to write down all your ideas that are shouted out, or someone else in the room will remember what was said and all the "brainstormed" words or ideas eventually find their way onto the chart or board. 

However, have you found that when you have a brainstorming session all by yourself you have SO many ideas that you can't keep track of them, and you know that by the time you've written down all your ideas, some of the best ones have just floated up into the stratosphere and for the life of you, you cannot recall them? 

This can be very frustrating and is about the worst way to begin a large project that depends a great deal on creativity. You will learn a couple of techniques for "brainstorming" that you will use from now on to help keep track of all those great ideas. There may be one or two great ideas that slip away, but you'll capture many more than you even knew you had. 

The greatest impediment to writing fast is the Internal Editor 

When you begin a new writing project, it is sometimes really hard to get your ideas down in any kind of order. It seems that as soon as you try to put your ideas down, the idea generator dries up! We've all had that happen! What if you could learn ways to make getting your ideas down on paper simpler, easier, and much less painful? You might be more interested in doing projects like this more often, wouldn't you?  

It may interest you to know that there is one single reason your ideas "dry up". What would you pay to know the answer to that? The answer to that is deceptively simple. It is you. You are your own worst enemy when it comes time to get ideas down for a project on paper. Some people call it the "Infernal Internal Editor", and we will talk a lot more about this later. What you need to understand now is that unless you are able to keep your Internal Editor under control, you will always struggle with your writing, no matter what the project is. 

Your Internal Editor is the result of perfectionism, of struggling to turn in the best paper, article or book that you can. As you write, you hear the words, "You're kidding me! Who is going to read that mess? You're no writer. Leave it to someone who really knows what they are doing…" 

…and on and on. 

We live in such a competitive society today that we are constantly judging others and ourselves, just as we know we are being judged in turn. We take it upon ourselves to start the judgment process as soon as we begin to write, and we turn into our own worst enemy.  

WE talk ourselves out of being able to write almost before we even start. What if it isn't good enough? What if it isn't right? What if… 

Some of us had hyper-critical parents, grandparents, siblings, or friends who felt their whole life was dedicated to telling you where you went wrong with something. That type of judgment is enough to keep most people from trying something, and it is a real tragedy. We have immensely talented people who are too afraid to take that first step because they fear the judgment that starts inside their own head! 

Listen to your internal editor. What does he/she say? Then stop a moment and ask yourself, "Is this true about me?" Most of the time, it's not true, but because we fear judgment so much, we will not attempt something. We're defeated long before we even begin. In order to get the most out of the Speedwriting Course, you absolutely must contain your Internal Editor.  

We will talk more about the Internal Editor, and include ways to eliminate listening to the words that stop you before you even begin. Speedwriting can help you get material written a great deal faster than usual, however, you will need your Internal Editor to help you edit the material once you have your first draft done. Speedwriting does not create completely polished writing the first time around. 

Writing Reports, Articles, Books 

Some of you are taking this Speedwriting Course because you are a writer, and you need to learn how to write faster. When you write faster, you are more productive and can make a lot more money, right?  

Yes, you will learn many Speedwriting techniques that will help you with your writing of reports, articles, rewriting techniques for articles, and even how to approach the idea of writing a larger project like a dissertation or a book.