Wriging

When I get an idea, it'll be relatively quick, like under 30 mins if I'm motivated. If I'm not motivated, I just wait till I am ;)

I typically write two kinds of entries. I have ones which I will tell myself well in advance that I wish to post on, and then think about it a fair bit before diving in. I might take over an hour on those.

When I am ticked off at something though, such as my last one, I pretty much just go for it, and the time spent is merely the raw typing time + time spent fixing small bits of grammar and the like.

That said, I don't really write short posts anymore. These days I find myself posting a fair bit less, but each time I do post, it's a fair bit more.

My process is fairly similar to Cyrris' that there are longer times spent on pre-meditated posts, and then there are reactive posts that come very quickly. I'd say the average comes out to between 30 minutes and an hour though.

I can tap out a solid entry in about 10-20 minutes (depending on the length), but then spend an inordinate amount of time (but not enough, usually) proofreading and, to borrow your phrase, ripping it apart. Anywhere from an hour to upwards of 3 or 4 hours.

Depends on the subject matter and length of the entry, really. My most recent entry, about Facebook, took about 3 hours (mostly on deciding how ambiguous I wanted to be about certain parts of it, admittedly), but I was able to get the one before it out in less than an hour, because I knew exactly what I wanted to say.

I'm like Cyrris, when it comes to something I feel strongly about, it's really fast. But when it comes to a regular post, it takes me a long time, for the same reasons as you , Tyme. I will sit there and pick it apart, even then I need to stop and just post it because I'll end up posting it sometime next month and the topic will no longer be relevant.

BTW, I'm really pissed off about what happened to JFK!

I'm an editor-as-I-go, so I can never just "tap out an entry." From inception to completion of the entry's body, it usually takes me about 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the subject and how picky I'm feeling. Then I'll proof it/change it/obsess over it for another 30 minutes to an hour before getting completely exasperated with myself and clicking publish.

Unfortunately, after I hit that button, I have to go to my entry, pick at it, and, to borrow a phrase from my mother, go over it with a fine tooth comb. I probably re-edit the entry another 2-3 times during this process, for a total of 15 minutes.

I'll go along with what Bartoneus and Cyrris have said:

Depends on the length of the entry, how much I know about the subject, and how much I feel I can contribute to the overall conversation.

As far as editing is concerned, luckily I've been writing enough that I'm now able to keep about 80% of what I wrote how I first wrote it, with only about 20% requiring restructuring.

Overall, I feel it takes me about an hour to write, edit, and publish 1000 words. An average entry on my site is approximately 1500 words, so you can guess how long it takes me to write something and post it up.

Of course, then there's that little rule of mine of not hitting "publish" on anything after 8PM, which gives me a chance to do another round of edits the morning after I write whatever it is. That may take as long as it took to write the piece, if I end up doing major restructuring. (This is not a common occurrence.)

Additionally, ErinR's situation also applies here:

Unfortunately, after I hit that button, I have to go to my entry, pick at it...I probably re-edit the entry another 2-3 times during this process, for a total of 15 minutes.

And finally, this doesn't take planning into consideration. While sometimes I'm able to post entires on a whim, most of the time -- for the really good ones -- I actually spend time structuring what I want to write, what points I want to hit, and how I want to make things flow. This I've never measured since it could take as little as 5 minutes, or as long as 8 hours, depending on the complexity and purpose of the story. These are the type of pieces I'll also republish on other sites and usually end up directing people to. Also, these tend to be the entries which get StumbledUpon, submitted to LifeHacker, or bookmarked.

Again, it depends on the entry itself, my prior knowledge of the subject, and also how difficult the subject is to talk about.

Newsy-type posts on my site take between 15 and 30 minutes depending on length. I like to add images and quotes as well, which take time to format/resize/find source etc...

Longer, more thought out and 'debate' type posts can take up to three of four days spending a couple of hours on it each day. Researching, planning, reading similar posts elsewhere if applicable, typing, formatting, re-working, finding new material to add, proof reading countless times, getting someone else to read it for me.

to borrow a phrase from my mother, go over it with a fine tooth comb

That would be a fine-toothed comb.

I would say it takes me anywhere from 30-45 minutes. Even though most of my entries are too long, I try not to rush through it and actually work on editing it more.

Before I go any further, Rich - if you spelling/grammar check me in this one I swear I'm going to do something unmentionable with that chocolate bar tomorrow. You have been warned :P

When I actually sit down to write most of my normal posts, they get written in half an hour max. The exceptions to this are the Sunday Roasts which can take up to three hours to do properly, and my longer research/essays posts which have been known to take six months to get into a shape I'm happy with.

I'd have to say that my ideas and the shape of the post are milling round in my head for a good few hours before I write them normally. I'll be sitting there, doing other stuff, but in the back of my mind I'm constantly re-writing what I want to say so I get get it to sound right. Sometimes I'll think I've got it and I'll fire up WriteRoom to type it out, but it just doesn't work somehow, so I throw that idea back into the pot for a bit longer.

Rather annoyingly, I tend to find the posts I dash of quickest often get the best response!

It all depends on the nature of the beast.

When I'm all fired up about something I just blast through it in 15 or 20 minutes, then go back and spell check and make sure my words are real words and not gibberishy fragments.

My grammar is horrid, but my spelling is usually grand. 50/50 isn't bad. ;-)

For more thoughtful posts I'll get a first draft done in an hour or two, then save it to come back to later on and look back over what I've written and revise bits and pieces. Then give it a final look over before I hit the magical publish button.

That would be a fine-toothed comb.

I thought that, too, but checked out Google (per your note):

"fine-tooth comb" : 241,000 results
"fine-toothed comb" : 124,000 results

For the record, I think you're right anyway.

Most posts are a solid half hour.

But the ideation stage, the one that really matters, happens during the 10 minutes in the shower. ;)

Most of my posts take about 6-8 hours of time. I don't count the in between stuff like thinking about it while buying milk. They're kind of involved since they entail a photo shoot, sometimes makind a diorama for the shoot, processing photos, and then coming up with something that might be interesting to say. That's probably why I don't get more than one or two posts a week. I need to incorporate more short posts to string in between the large posts.

15 minutes, tops. But I never force myself to write an entry, only do it when I'm inspired or motivated.

The average for me is about one hour, as I am usually including photos in my entry, and have to choose which ones to use. There are days where it takes me less, but never more than one hour.

It could be 5 minutes. It could be 50 minutes.

Depends on how emotional I am when I'm writing my posts. I've learnt not to overedit my posts because that takes its natural flow away. Live and learn, but correct the spelling mistakes.

Thanks everyone, I was really curious if anyone had the same problems I do. Today I did good, about 20 minutes to write the article but I had a very firm idea of what I wanted to say from last night.

The thing is I have to really give thought on what I say and how it is perceived or I can cause a lot myself a lot of drama.

1 hour is more than enough to get a brainwave and write an entry, if you feel inspired. It's a daunting task to write when your inspiration runs dry. I prefer not to waste time and find a new source of inspiration which may be a proverb or a quotation. Reading for a couple of hours helps a lot.

Oh man. Great note.

I will usually take at least an hour. Like Tyme, sometimes I'll scratch the whole thing and ask what the whole point of trying to construct a post out of original subject matter was, but will have benefitted from the attempt, anyway. It's the act of externalizing my thoughts so they don't drive me crazy, anymore!

But as for posts I actually end up publishing, they usually take about an hour, but I can be considered either a multi-tasker or a person with ADD--I do many things at once. Or I plainly get distracted...so I'll put the post away for a little bit and then come back to it when the thoughts have had time to marinate in my mind. If we were talking strictly about solid writing time, period, it could take up to 3 hours.

Like others, really emotional posts are my fastest. Also, my longest.

To be true, I often times agonize more over comments than I do over my posts. Proportionally to the length of them, I spend HOURS over a silly three line comment. The number of times I've written a response to a note for example, then deleted it instead of hitting Post would boggle you if you knew it.

I guess this is because on my own blog I'm, well, just talking for/about me and people can read/not read at their leisure. When I comment on other sites however, I feel this insane urge to make a good impression. Which leads me to rarely commenting.

hthth had a note on this awhile ago. I think two hours was not considered unreasonable.

It takes me very little time but I never write a post unless the whole idea has bubbled up and is already formulated in my mind.

Trying to pick a subject and write on it is a no no, as it's like pulling teeth.

It depends on the topic and my knowledge of the subject(s). Writing the entry is the easy part once I get going.

For me, the Title is the bitch... I tend to try too hard at being witty and they end up sounding dumb.

45 minutes to 2 hours. Unless it's an aside, then it takes 20 to 40 seconds.

Summed up my timetaking in a similar note a few weeks back. It ranges from 45mins - 3hrs. I guess 1.5hr is average if I'm not swamped at work. Most of that time goes into revising, fixing and background research.

It really depends on what I'm writing, but in general less than an hour unless I've got a lot going on when I write.

Unlike everyone else, I'm not a big editor. I write it, I reread for forgotten letters/punctuation, and I'm good to go. I guess because I'm more of a "personal" blogger--I shoot from the hip, and if I fret over it too much, it comes through in my writing. I want a blog post to feel like you called me up, and I'm telling you a really random story of something that happened to me lately.

And it could be a fine-tooth comb, especially if it was made out of some fine teeth. :) Like baleen. I heart whales.

Posts take me about 15 to 45 minutes, but it helps that I can type fairly fast. Best skill my parents every forced me to learn!!!

I type with my nose, so that might affect my overall speed.

several months

I'll let thoughts kinda marinate in my crazy dreams that I always have, and then when I wake up in the morning, churn them out in a matter of minutes.

For me it typically depends on the type of entry I am writing. I typically like to either write stream of consciousness posts that are a big loose and fast with spell check and limited editing.

I just believe that spontaneous thoughts become less spontaneous when they are edited over and over. I guess in part I hold this believe because of Jack Kerouac, I love the beat writers and "On the Road" is just amazing, especially when you stop to consider it was typed on a continuous roll of paper and lacked most punctuation, but I digress.

The other type of entries I do are typically reviews, these I do go back and edit, re-edit and run through the old noggin many times. Mainly because I believe if I am going to review something, I'd prefer to not have my message lost because of stupid typing/formatting/grammar mistakes. These typically take longer to write, few hours maybe. Save to draft is my friend.

Well, considering the genre that I am blogging on (Anime), I generally work on anime reviews and episodic summaries. The requirement of putting screenshots for beauty and breaking the monotony of words means that a bit more time is then used up.

It usually takes me 2-3 hours to finish up an entry after the proofreading, writing and the likes.

I have a few entries that have been in production since 2004 =)

Ok, here's another question and I guess this will depend on what type of writing you are doing.

Do you ever write an entry, are pleased with it but realize it will create drama and decide not to post it?

An example, a review where you know you are against the popular opinion or a personal entry where people will know things they never knew before (in your personal life) or a rant you want to get out but might feel the backlash from.

Tyme,

Yeah, that's happened a few times actually. I've written something in response to a situation but have sat on it in draft form for a few months - or just never posted it. I try to not let what people might think influence what I post, but there are times I just can't face the drama I KNOW it will cause.

I've had to hold my tongue on rants and personal stories because, no matter how I try to 'vague them up', I know that certain people will read them and get hurt. I don't mind annoying people, but hurting people is something I try never to intentionally do.

Do you ever write an entry, are pleased with it but realize it will create drama and decide not to post it?

I bet you can probably guess! Drama doesn't really faze me -- if I've got something to say, I say it. I do try to steer clear of anything that might cause tension between me and someone I know personally, though.

Tyme, great question.

Recently I did an entry that didn't so much "create" drama but merely identify drama that had already been created around and about me. So the answer is No, I wouldn't do it to "create" drama but if it meant venting about a situation that I couldn't take anymore or identifying things that are really liberating for me to identify and not shrinking back from that sort of responsibility in personal growth...I kind of deem it necessary, actually.

I would never pre-emptively step on peoples' toes, though. This is hard to do, though, for when I don't understand for instance a pattern that people might tend to follow. Well, I'll try to use tactful words for the purposes of minimizing an attacking tone, but I still try to be as honest as possible. I don't not post "just in case" anybody might be offended.

Always open to evaluation on a case-by-case basis, of course. :) Also important to note that my blog is a personal one.

Sometimes, I take 20 mins to make an entry. But I took more than 4 hours to write some of posts which I translated to my native language. :)

And I also want to know how can I write faster than my current time usage for my blog.

I noticed lately I can write an entry in 30 minutes but take an hour and a half thinking of a title. Yes I know, ridiculous.

I tend to subscribe to the "write it and run" school of posting. Generally I can bang something out in 15 minutes but I tend to write short pieces that can be read quickly.

That said go back later and make changes for the sake of grammar, punctuation clarity etc...my wife will usually catch my mistakes before I do and gently remind me that I've misused an apostrophe or misspelled something.

After carefully going over the topic and what i'm going to be writing about in my head, I generally just let it spew out through the keyboard.

So it gets done rather fast, 10-20 minutes max.

Like others, it really varies for me. I've spent hours upon hours on some entries; other entries, I've typed up in 5 minutes, read over it to check for typos / spelling errors, and hit publish.

Ironically, many of the entries that took me forever to write receive little attention and no comments; many of the 5-minute speed-posts get huge amounts of attention and spawn a large comment discussion.

Hmm.. About 30 minutes, without pictures, and I spend a lot of time checking for errors and spelling mistakes so yeah..

But with pictures, probably between 45 minutes to an hour. Anything that requires longer than an hour will be broken down to sessions because I'd like to spend some time blog-hopping and posting messages in forums too :)

oh, just about forever