This article gives 16 tips for people who take a long time to write an English work email, business report, school essay, IELTS Writing task, etc.
Get into the habit of writing quickly/ Get out of the habit of writing slowly
Many of the ideas below are not only useful for writing that report, essay, etc more quickly, but also help get you into the routine of writing more quickly. It might also be worth regularly writing something very quick and easy like diary entries as both further English practice and something to switch your brain into quick writing mode.
Write like you speak
As you write, try to only correct yourself if it’s complete nonsense, explain your way around unknown vocabulary instead of using a dictionary, etc, as you would when you are speaking. This will not only help you write more quickly, but will also make writing more useful for improving your speaking skills.
Write quickly then edit later
It is much quicker to correct yourself when you have finished writing than it is to change what you write as you go along, so you should avoid the eraser or delete button as much as possible, turn off grammar check until you’ve finished, etc.
Put any help away while you are writing
As much as possible, leave any dictionary use, double checking with a model, double checking with a list of useful language, etc until the final editing stage.
Leave gaps in your writing and come back to them later
It is quite normal even when writing in your own language to be stuck for the perfect word, not be able to think of another way of rephrasing a repeated word, etc. In this kind of situation, the best tactic is to leave a space or something like “?????” and come back to that part later. This can also be true for whole sentences or even paragraphs. For example, first paragraphs are usually easiest to write after the body is finished.
Write when fresh
Sometimes the main reason for writing slowly can simply be tiredness. If writing in English is one of the more challenging parts of your work or studies, try to do it when your brain is working best. For example, it is often worth writing the most important email replies before reading the rest of your email inbox, perhaps leaving important replies until tomorrow morning before you start reading any more emails.
Take a break from writing and try again
Taking a break will mean that you come back to it fresh. It should also mean that you come back to it with new ideas that your subconscious has been working on while you were away from that piece of writing (even if you were working on something else because you didn’t have time to take an actual break).
Prepare before you write
Suitable preparation to save time includes a quick paragraph plan (“1. apology, 2. reasons, 3. future action”, etc), and a quick look at a model or list of useful phrases.
Avoid translation while writing
It might seem quicker to write or at least plan in your own language first. However, this is likely to slow your English writing down, particularly if you then have to make the writing more English-sounding because of the influence of L1 on the translated version. Instead, do all planning in English, and write straight from there.
Copy and paste useful phrases into your writing
There is nothing wrong with copying section titles from a model report, copying the closing greeting from the email that you are responding to, copying essay phrases from a list of useful language, etc. However, you do then need to make sure that the language matches the purpose that you are using it for, the required level of formality, etc.
Let the language guide the writing
In your work and other studies, the content of what you write is obviously decided and the most important thing. In contrast, when you are writing to practise English, it can be both quicker and more exciting to let the story plot, review content, etc, be guided by the words that pop into your head rather than by what you originally planned to write.
Write notes when you can
Some things like meeting minutes, bullet points in reports and PowerPoint slides do not need full sentences, so you can save time by both not writing grammar words like “of” and by not having to think about what such words would have to be.
Fill space in your writing with common language
Particularly if you have to meet a minimum word limit or your writing might appear lazy or rude if it is too short, you can quickly fill up the space with things that it is usually okay to use over and over again like “I will write about… before turning to…” in essays and “I hope this email finds you well” in formal emails.
Get feedback on your writing at the right time
In some cases, it might be best to get feedback from your boss, teacher, etc straight after you make a basic paragraph plan, so that you don’t have to rewrite everything later if that part was wrong. However, it can sometimes be too confusing to get feedback before you’ve put your own ideas together, in which case it’s best to do as much work as you can before you let other people see what you have written. The best stage to get feedback depends entirely on the situation, so it’s worth thinking about each time that you write, but a good general tip is to get feedback as early as might be suitable and/ or when you get stuck.
Maybe let the computer finish your sentences
If you are writing something that is very fixed in English like a business email, it might be useful to see recommendations on how such sentences usually continue, e.g. letting Microsoft Outlook give you suggestions on what to write next. However, be prepared to turn that function off if it is mainly distracting, e.g. when you write the body of such emails.
Maybe use AI, then edit it
Although you should be very sceptical about the result and be prepared to scrap what the AI gives you and start again if necessary, giving the right prompts to ChatGPT etc then working on what they give you can sometimes save time when you have to write a job application, a book review, etc.