How to get better at writing FAST

“How do I get better at writing FAST?”

This is a question I get 2-3x a day from someone on Twitter (and yes, I mean literally every single day).

In addition, whenever someone asks me this me this question, there’s always the same follow up:

“How do you manage to write so quickly and so easily?!?”

And it’s interesting.

Because when I think back to when I first started writing - back in August / September of last year (when I was just writing for me), I don’t remember writing coming “easily” to me whatsoever.

In fact, it was a fucking pain in the ass.

I’d constantly struggle to find the right words.

I’d obsess endlessly over my opening line.

The words simply wouldn’t “flow”.

It’s easy for people to see that I’m (somewhat) proficient with words now and assume it’s always been the case.

But it’s simply not so.

I had to spend MONTHS toiling over my words to get to where I am now.

6am rises to write before work.

Studying copywriting til 11pm after dinner.

Aggressively spamming out my thoughts in the Notes app on my phone during train journeys.

Fuck me, there’s even a little hatch in my flat between the kitchen and living room where I used to balance my laptop so I could stand up and write because my back had started to ache from being hunched over all day (lol).

In fact, when I think about it, there hasn’t been a single day in the past 4 months when I haven’t dedicated at LEAST 1-2 hour a day to sitting down and writing content (whether it got published or not).

But it was only a few days ago, while writing my new lead magnet (releasing on Wednesday at 11AM GMT btw…) when I realised how much this daily writing practise has paid off.

Because when I wrote my first lead magnet - an E-book on how to write better hooks - it took me WEEKS to get that thing ship shape.

Late nights.

Early mornings.

Constantly banging my head against the wall.

It took forever.

But 4 months later and a fucking gazillion words under my belt?

I managed to sit down and write this entire 25 page lead magnet in one 6 hour sitting.

Which absolutely blew my mind.

Now, I’m not telling you all this in a “look at me, look how great I am kind of way”.

I’m telling you this because, if you actually think about it, it’s probably the most inspiring thing I could ever admit to you guys in one of these emails.

If I were to sit here and tell you how this whole thing came naturally and easily to me, that I just got dealt a good hand, then think about what that would imply. It would imply that, on the flip side, if you’re struggling with your writing right now then it’s because you just got dealt a bad hand and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Which is complete bollocks.

There absolutely is something you can do about it.

And I’m about to share with you the fastest way (based on my own experience) to make that happen.

So here goes.

Here’s 3 practical and achievable steps you can start taking today that will let you look back in 3 months time and go “Fuck me, I used to write like that?!?!”:

Action Point 1: Bank 3 exceptional opening lines / hooks every day

Your hook / opening line is everything.

If you can’t catch people’s attention, then the rest of your content does not matter.

So every day, I want you to find 3 hooks either on Twitter or in an email you read, screenshot them and store them down somewhere (Notion, Google doc, wherever).

Build up a bank of these which you can constantly refer back to.

Then analyse them.

Why did they capture your attention?

Why did they stick out above everything else?

The sooner you can start to understand WHY other people’s hooks catch your eye, the sooner you will start to understand how to do this for yourself.

Action Point 2: Dissect one exceptional long form every day

Pick 2-3 creators you love and who write lots of long form content.

Every day, commit to reading ONE of their pieces (that isn’t too much to ask, right?)

But don’t just read it.

Dissect it.

Why have they chosen that word over another?

How have they mixed up short and long sentences to continually change the rhythm and keep you entertained?

Pay careful attention to how they tease your curiosity throughout the whole piece, never giving away “the answer” until the very end.

As I’ve said a million times now, good writing starts with becoming intensely curious and constantly asking WHY.

Action Point 3: Write long form piece for 30 minutes EVERY SINGLE DAY

Studying other people’s work will only get you so far.

You need to actively implement the lessons you learn.

This is how you make them become second nature over time.

And if you want to do this QUICKLY, you must commit to writing long form content EVERY SINGLE DAY.

This is how I did it.

And, from talking to other proficient writers in the space, this is how they all did it too.

Committing to long form content will get you better at writing faster than anything else.

So here’s what you do.

Every morning (or evening if you’re a night owl):

Set a timer for 30 minutes.

Commit to writing ONE long form piece (either an email or Twitter long form).

Whatever is written at the end of that 30 minutes gets published - no exceptions.

The pressure of the timer will force you to think quickly on your feet, make you focus like nothing else and will also lend itself to exciting, fast-paced writing - because that’s the environment in which you wrote it!

And that’s it.

3 practical (and I think highly doable) steps that, if you are consistent for 3 months, will get you better at writing than 99% of people on Twitter.

Hope that was useful.

Talk soon,

Harry

PS. Confused about how to write hooks that capture attention?

I’ve got a treat for you this week.

Because I’m dropping a free giveaway that explains my S.C.O.R.E framework I use to write all of my hooks on Twitter and email subject lines.

It’s the exact framework that’s netted me over 3M impressions and 3,900+ followers in the last 120 days.

Wednesday, 13 March, 11AM GMT.

See you there.