If you want to write faster, consider adding PEP to your process: Preparation, Environment, and Practice.
Preparation:
Proper preparation gives a boost to your writing speed and quality. Those who know how to prepare well are able to write faster and more fluently. Those who don't prepare well are destined for mediocrity. By incorporating the following five ideas into your preparation process, your writing speed, quality, and enjoyment will all increase.
1) Keep a journal
Often, writing is slow because you don't know what to write about, or can't think of specific examples to clarify the points you are trying to make. Keeping a journal is a great way to overcome these problems. Take a small notebook with you wherever you go to jot down the bits of inspiration that come to mind and the interesting events you witness throughout your day. Regularly review these notes, looking for ideas to write about or for colorful, concrete examples to spice up your writing.
2) Know your subject
To write faster, write about things you know. Or, if you want to write about something you are not yet familiar with, do your research first. Learn all you can about the subject before starting to write. The investment of time at the beginning of your writing project will be rewarded in the speed and quality of your writing.
3) Be derivative
Make the most of your knowledge and research. Think of other articles to write on related topics. If you just finished writing an article on training horses, why not write one about grooming horses, preparing stables, or proper feeding of horses? Only your imagination will limit the list of possible related topics. For these derivative articles, much of the background information is the same, which saves time for both research and writing.
4) Plan
Know what you want to say before you begin. Make a roadmap of where you want to the article to go and the points that you hope to make along the way. Frequently, those who choose not to plan find that what they thought was the right road is either a dead end or takes them to places they don’t want to go.
5) Learn to think clearly
Writing is putting your thoughts down on paper. If your thoughts are clear and come easily, then your writing will be clear and will come easily. If your thinking is muddy, then your writing will be confusing and will require lots of editing. One way to develop clear thinking is to write how-to articles for simple tasks. Choose anything from changing a flat tire to making a peanut butter sandwich. Write a logical sequence of events to accomplish the task, and then ask a friend to follow your instructions exactly as written. You will quickly find out where your directions are confusing, where you forgot steps or got them out of order, and where you made false assumptions about what people know. As you continue to practice, your directions, and therefore your thinking, will become clearer and more logical. This clear, logical thinking will then transfer to your other writing projects.
Environment:
The environment in which you write will also affect your writing speed. Try to find a place to write where distractions are a minimum. Also, do some experimenting to discover the conditions under which you write best. Do you need background music or silence? Do you write better in the morning or at night? Does a glass of red wine stimulate your thinking or put you to sleep? By creating a favorable environment, you will increase your chance of writing at top speed.
Practice:
When you go to McDonalds, you always know which register has the trainee taking orders. It is the register where hungry, disgruntled people have to wait 30 minutes for their food. The reason is not that the trainee is stupid. He or she simply doesn't have the experience needed to do things quickly and smoothly. The same holds true for writing. When you are a beginning writer, your writing is naturally slow and awkward. The more you write, however, the faster and more fluid your writing becomes.
With enough practice, the right environment, and proper preparation, many articles that formerly required days to finish can be completed in a few hours. Those that took hours can be completed in thirty minutes or less. And those that took thirty minutes or less – will still take roughly the same amount of time. There is a limit, after all. This is method, not magic.