How to Write 5000 Words Per Hour!

“I’d love to say I have handmade Japanese paper and a 200-year-old fountain pen … and every morning, after making love, for the third time … I go running, for about five miles … if I’m feeling lazy.

At the top of our house, there’s an old cupola, and I watch the sunrise up there, in the nude, and I write my poems longhand. I’m right-handed, but I force myself to use my left hand, because I find it makes me more creative. And I write, in Latin, because it forces the brain to work in a new way—backwards, like Hebrew…

But really, I just sit in front of my computer.” — Taylor Mali

As you may know, I’m a writer. Sitting down in a park with my moleskin notebook and a nice pen is one of my greatest pleasures. The warm sun radiating across my brow, a cool breeze gently jostling my light summer jacket, and the beautiful rhythms of my latest haiku flowing from my soul. Sound’s wonderful, doesn’t it?

Unfortunately, for the most part, poetry doesn’t pay the bills, and free-flow writing in the park isn’t really that productive. So, when it’s time to get down to business, what do I do?

I am often asked how I get so much done. How do I write up to 5000 words per hour? And, no, before you ask, that is not hyperbole… I have really written 5000 words in under 60 minutes many times. What’s my secret?

I don’t write. Seriously, I’m not writing. I mean, could you imagine? If it were even physically possible to type that fast, think about it… I’d have carpal tunnel syndrome in about eight seconds. No thanks.

Instead, I just talk.

In the old days, I carried around a tape recorder (okay, it was the REALLY old days.) I eventually upgraded to a digital voice recorder that I still use to this day. The primary challenge with this process is it still required someone to listen to the recording and transcribe it onto paper (usually my wife.)

Most electronic gadgets now have voice capability. Apple, Android, Google, etc. Cell phones, tablets, and even computers, all posses the capability to interact vocally. Even common software like MS Word has built-in dictation abilities.

All you need is a good quality microphone and you’re off to the races.

My preferred tool is Dragon Naturally Speaking by Nuance. Dragon is a speech recognition

software that works with a variety of word processing programs. As you talk into the microphone, Dragon magically writes what you say onto the screen. It does not get any easier than that. It is a program used by law enforcement, businesses, hospitals, attorneys, and, of course, writers. It is particularly useful for the disabled who may have difficulty typing, but still have much to share.

There are loads of videos on YouTube where you can see Dragon in action.

Dragon is the one tool I absolutely will not do without as a writer. I recommend the Professional version, as it works best for business. It’s the one I use for business and affiliate marketing, but the Home version isn’t too shabby and it’s about half the price.

Is it perfect? Nope. Sometimes it misunderstands what I said and I have to go back and “clean things up” a bit, but I’d say it’s about 98% accurate. And, if you’ve ever heard my marble-filled accent, you’d agree that’s pretty darn good.

So, whether you are using dedicated software like Dragon, or clicking on the “Dictate” button in Word or Google Docs (yep, it’s there in the toolbar. Go ahead and look… I’ll wait), by just talking instead of writing, you can increase your output ten-fold.