Written on August 3rd, 2008 at 12:08 am by Darren Rowse
How Long Do You Take To Write a Blog Post?
As part of a little research I’m doing for a post (or a short series of them) next week here at ProBlogger I’d like to ask readers to answer this question:
How Long Do You Take To Write a Blog Post?
I know each post varies depending upon what it is – but on average how long would you say you take to write a blog post? I’d be interested to not only hear the time it takes you but also you usually write posts in one sitting or come back to them over time. Also it’d probably help a little if you told us the type of posts you generally write.
Tags: blog tips, blogging, writing blog posts, writing blogs, Writing Content
327 Responses to “How Long Do You Take To Write a Blog Post?” - Add Yours
Kirk Warren
August 3rd, 2008 12:31 am
Maybe an hour after you count the research part. Actual writing probably only takes 15 minutes or so.
Matt
August 3rd, 2008 12:35 am
I just removed the sitemeter code but my sidebar is still not loading in IE. Frustrating me now
Paintball
August 3rd, 2008 12:41 am
In total it takes about half hour for me to crank out a more detailed post.
Constantine
August 3rd, 2008 12:49 am
Six hours to write a post for my running blog http//dailyrunningtips.com. I start writing immediately I get in the office, I work on the post on and off because am constantly interrupted by customers. Am able to finish the post during the lunch break.
Louis Liem
August 3rd, 2008 12:51 am
Up to 8 hours. Everything from researching and comparing data, double checking information, looking for images, proofreading and attaching some reliable relevant links if there were any. Proofreading takes a considerable time since English isn’t my mother tongue.
The type of article spends that enormous hours is tutorial articles and tips.
Frank C
August 3rd, 2008 12:53 am
It really depends on the subject and how much depth I want to go into. For keyword targeted niche blog articles, 5 to 10 minutes. For my typical review posts on my flagship blog, between 15 and 30 minutes. For more in-depth instructional articles, one to two hours.
Chris Kieff
August 3rd, 2008 12:53 am
I don’t think you can discount the research, searching for images etc. That’s all part of the process. Therefore a blog post takes me 1 to 2 hours.
Chris
Ms. Missive
August 3rd, 2008 12:55 am
For my news/politics site, it takes me approximately 30 minutes to write a post (with 2-3 posts per day) but I spend several hours every day reading and watching the news….
For my personal blog, it usually takes me 1 hour to finish a post.
Sal
August 3rd, 2008 12:56 am
Usually it will take about 15 to 20 minutes to crank out a blog. I would have to say that the first 10 minutes are actually writing and then the rest of the time is going back and checking spelling and whatnot. The only time I usually take longer if it is something that stirs something up inside, then I usually have to just get all of my thoughts and frustrations down, let it sit for an hour, then come back to see if anything that I wrote even made a hint of sense. The blogs that I write usually just stem from random thoughts throughout my day.
Muhammad Siyab
August 3rd, 2008 12:56 am
Generally from an hour to two hours, even more. I usually write detailed, indepth posts(1000+ words), and that takes time.
Throw in 15 minutes for proof reading and final touches, and half an hour to search flickr for appropriate images..
So all in all, near two to two and a half hours :D
becca
August 3rd, 2008 12:56 am
Generally I’m writing about life, my craft business, something cool I recently found. It can take up to an hour for the post, but that’s usually because I’m doing a million things at once. Sometimes it only takes about 10 minutes, when I’m just updating to update. I’ve started adding more inline links so getting the URLs is a little time-consuming.
I love to write though, so it’s all good.
baldeagle
August 3rd, 2008 12:57 am
It varies by post, some seem to flow, others drag. I basically do a bit of research, collecting pictures, reading articles, etc. The research takes anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours (depending on the topic). The actual writing is anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. I’ll usually write out the article, let it sit for a while, then proof it. All told, I probably spend about an hour and a half per article.
Archit
August 3rd, 2008 1:00 am
Including the research phase, in total it takes me a maximum of an hour to complete a post.
Don Martelli
August 3rd, 2008 1:00 am
On average, it’s about three minutes. I never plan to write anything. I write as I think it, see it, shoot it, etc. Being in PR, I write all day long so spitting out 700 words that are of original thought come easy to me. My posts range from socialnet topics, photography, kids, family, married life, work, sports, and the all encompassing bucket of randomness.
Dana Lookadoo
August 3rd, 2008 1:01 am
Gosh, I guess I’m a turtle rather than a hare! It takes me about 2 hours, and I often sit on a post and re-read later. I try to include an image or two in each post, ensure I’m not just repeating yesterday’s news, include some research and and make it educational.
I will attribute some of the time to learning curve, since I recently started blogging again and getting used to WordPress. I find that working in WordPress slows down production time, so I’m looking at a Windows LiveWire.
I do try to optimize each post for keywords and META tags and go back to make sure all links open in a new window and NOFOLLOW certain links.
Dominique
August 3rd, 2008 1:01 am
For my writing a post can take from 15 minutes to 2 days depending on how focus I am when I decide to write and the amount of research that has to be done for the post. If the post is just about relating what happened to me personally during the day/week it would take 1/2 hr the max for a 200 word post. Long time would be needed if I am adding in collages made with the photos taken.
Rebellious Arab Girl
August 3rd, 2008 1:02 am
An hour maximum to make sure there are no spelling or grammar mistakes.. and the thoughts are well put together.
Felicia
August 3rd, 2008 1:03 am
Some posts are easy and take about a half hour, while other more detailed in depth posts can take as much as two hours once I sit down to write. That’s if I actually type out my post.
It’s quicker when I dictate my posts into my digital recorder which I affectionately refer to as my “digital brain” and download them to my computer.
I think what takes the longest is the research and qualifying the sources.
NikNik
August 3rd, 2008 1:03 am
I keep a list of blog topics on a white board over my desk to stay focused. I use one Word doc that sits on my desktop and usually contains about 4-5 blog posts. I take time to revisit and research for each post. Overall, I would guess that once I have all the info required for the post, it probably takes me about an hour to write from start to finish.
However, it totally depends on the subject and length required to express my idea, opinion or how-to information.
AND…let’s not forget visuals people. I think the perfect compliment to a rockin’ post….is a professional looking or creative image. The right images can make an awesome impact, solidify your branding (when appropriate), and further clarify your message or theme for the article. So don’t forget to feed your visual learners/readers!
Eric
August 3rd, 2008 1:07 am
Depending on the type of post, 5 minutes for a short news story (relevant for my blog) or up to 45 minutes or an hour for a featured post.
--Deb
August 3rd, 2008 1:09 am
Half-hour to an hour, depending on research, how technical a post it is, whethere there are pictures….
dawn
August 3rd, 2008 1:09 am
Personal blog can take anywhere from five minutes to 2-3 hours (if I’m writing something in-depth that requires lots of links and arguments). Work blog maybe about twenty minutes.
marcus
August 3rd, 2008 1:09 am
In average, 30-45 min.
Ian McKenzie
August 3rd, 2008 1:09 am
It generally takes 30 – 60 minutes for me to write an “average” post: between 300 and 500 words.
Tech Blogger
August 3rd, 2008 1:10 am
A i am Just following the Big Bloggers, Cause i am New to tech Blogging, so when every i find a nice post, I takes to 10-15 minutes to post on it..
Jeremy
August 3rd, 2008 1:11 am
20-40 minutes on average. And surprisingly, some of my most popular posts are a result of just sitting down and freely putting my thoughts down without a plan, outline, or even heavy editing. And the posts where I spend hours across a few days putting together something structured can be complete duds.
Ed
August 3rd, 2008 1:12 am
One to two hours. Sometimes I spend a week researching a post, on and off, before actually writing it.
Bill Stevens
August 3rd, 2008 1:12 am
On average 2 hours. Obviously depending on what type of article.
Tech Blogger
August 3rd, 2008 1:13 am
Darren, How Do you decide your Topic??? cause deciding a topic is more hard for me them writing…
Ryne Nelson
August 3rd, 2008 1:14 am
Darren, I usually take 1-2 hours for each individual post. I’ll sleep on it and revisit it the next morning before publishing…
Geek's Dream Girl
August 3rd, 2008 1:14 am
I blog about online dating and dungeons & dragons mostly (how’s that for a niche?) ;-)
Most of my posts I do in under an hour. Some of them I slave over all day (Are Your IM Buddies in the Monster Manual?). Some of them I write in 20 minutes at 3 in the morning and they end up on BoingBoing (Musician’s Guide to Alternative Uses for Polyhedral Dice). Go figure!! :-)
Patrick
August 3rd, 2008 1:18 am
Good question because I often hear potential clients or even current clients tell me they “just don’t have time” to write to a business blog on a regular basis. I tend to write on the longer side – usually a typical thesis style with opening paragraph, 3-4 points and closing comments. This can often take me an hour or more because as I write I change my mind about several things, then I have to edit, etc. Sometimes I have multiple posts in draft form days ahead of the time I post them. I think I really need to work on shorter posts that take no longer than 15 minutes and to figure out how best to organize my thoughts to do so.
Ramkarthik
August 3rd, 2008 1:18 am
It depends on the type of post I write and the quality of post. If I’m writing about blogging, which I do the most, I take from 45 mins to 1 hour for a good quality post. For a news type of post, I take 10-15 mins to write. If I write on any other niche, I take around 1 hr to 2 hrs for a 750 words post. I need to do more research when I’m writing on other niche topics.
On an average every post I write takes 30 mins to write.
Robert Barr
August 3rd, 2008 1:19 am
From 1 1/2 to 2 hours depending on research.
Mike Thomas
August 3rd, 2008 1:19 am
I have a three-step process:
1) I map out the topics at least one month ahead, then go back through and add sub-topic bullets. (May take a minute per post at this point)
2) I write two posts during the day and save to my flash drive. (Maybe an hour total)
3) I upload the posts and proof them at night, adding adsense and another affiliate to each post. (Maybe 15 minutes)
I’m sure it could take less time if I wrote uninterrupted.
Shane Lashley
August 3rd, 2008 1:22 am
My blog has five topical categories and in each of those I have the choice of writing one of three style posts. They each take different amounts of time. I write or prepare all of them in one sitting but never post without getting up, walking away and coming back to it anywhere from an hour later or even the next day.
Here’s the breakdown:
1. Post related to my company’s activities – 1 hr. (this week was heavy in this department but it isn’t always like that)
2. Interview of subject matter expert (got several dozen of these booked and in motion) – 2 hr/interview including prep + conversion to blog in either edited video or text post is another 1 – 1.5 hours (this seems like it is going to go much higher due to the video podcast and podcasting we will integrate into the site over next week – 10 days, not to mention blogtalk radio plans in immediate future. We are batch-prepping some of these and staging their release dates.
3. Topical Post, meaning a post on one of my five topics that doesn’t fall into #1 or #2 above. 1.5 – 2 hours
Thinking about my blog posts: 24 hours/day
Thinking about new design changes to consider: 24 hours/day
Thanks for asking this question. I’ve wondered how my time compares with the pros. I’ll be interested to see the results of your poll.
Shane
http://www.innovativeeoncomy.com
Megapixelicio.us
August 3rd, 2008 1:22 am
My posts are mostly about photography and can take up to 2-4 hours. I start with the general idea, let it rest a few days, write some more and once I have enough content I finally publish it. I really wish I could make a post in less than an hour!
Jacob
August 3rd, 2008 1:24 am
I take anywhere from a ten minutes to an hour. On one blog, it’s all from memory, so it’s really straight forward. But, for my biology blog, I have to do research and that takes more time.
Andrea
August 3rd, 2008 1:25 am
Anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, at least. A large part of the time factor is fixing my typos.
gigi
August 3rd, 2008 1:25 am
Normally it takes me anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how the number images I need to resize (or want to include) and how I am feeling from a writing perspective, because sometimes it need to be brief.
When I am publishing interviews it can take well over an hour, since the features are with artists or crafters and I have to determine how to “lay out” the article using a dozen or more images.
Ben
August 3rd, 2008 1:27 am
It depends a lot on the objective of the post. On average, probably in the 30-60 minute range. Thoroughly researched posts will run longer – upwards of 2-4 hours – but those only constitute 1-2 posts per month. Lightweight pieces, such as quick book reviews or pure commentary observations can take as little as 10-15 minutes.
Ramesh | The Geek Stuff
August 3rd, 2008 1:27 am
I write lot of Instruction guides and how-to on technology topics and mostly on Linux.
1. Research: 1 to 3 days. In some cases even more. Typically I have 2 or 3 research activities going on simultaneously. This is the fun part for me and sometimes I end-up spending more time exploring the technology stuff that I’m about write.
2. Initial Draft: 2 hours for my instruction guides/how-to’s. I never post the first draft on the same day, even when I think it is complete, as most of the time the first draft is something I may understand easily. But, it may not be clear for readers.
3. Final Draft: 1 hour. During this time, I fine tune the content to make sure the steps mentioned in my guide are clear for someone who is performing it for the first time.
Note: When I post a something that is not an instruction guide or how-to, it typically takes 3 to 4 hours total in couple of sittings. I never like to write a post in one sitting that takes less than 1 hour.
Ramesh
The Geek Stuff
owlhaven
August 3rd, 2008 1:28 am
I write in my head as I go about my day. My post lengths also vary a lot. Some posts are just a picture and a couple sentences. Those take maybe 15 minutes to pull together. Others can be 1000 words or more and/or have a lot of photos and links. Those posts can easily take an hour. On average I would say I spend 30-40 minutes per post, and I post around 35 times a month. Of course that doesn’t take into account the time I spend reading and replying to comments, tweaking blog design, and visiting other blogs.
Mary, mom to 10
Ry
August 3rd, 2008 1:29 am
I’d say on average, 1.5 hours. I’ve definitely spent up to 3 or 4 hours on some. Then of course, there’s the quick 10 minute post. For me the time is all in the editing. I start by just getting it all out as fast as I can, and then I got back in to tweak it so it actually starts to make some sense.
Rich Hill
August 3rd, 2008 1:30 am
Usually two or three weeks. \grin/
Well some of them sit in the idea box that long, but probably only about an hour, two at the most, with research.
My website publishing for the last 10+ years has been about Genealogy, and that comes easy. I kick those out in a few minutes.
Then about seven months ago I found out you don’t have to give all your information away for free and there actually is a way to make m-o-n-e-y on the Internet.
So I now have a couple of dozen sites in various states of progression and they each bring in a little bit until I can find the golden egg and hammer it.
Rich
Danielle Vyas
August 3rd, 2008 1:31 am
It takes me a while to form a post and I am still adjusting my writing to blogging.
I’m learning how to create a good mix of long, detailed posts and shorter ones. I cannot believe after 2 years of blogging I get pre-dated posts.
Being on Twitter is definitely getting me out of feed reader lurkerdom.
Have a great weekend.
Danielle
Modern Musings
Kyle | BroncoTalk
August 3rd, 2008 1:33 am
Most are about half an hour. For longer posts I’ll write about half an hour at a time until it’s done. Some posts take me a good 2-3 hours, when I’m writing a team breakdown type post (sports blog).
Jaffer
August 3rd, 2008 1:33 am
I usually take an hour or two from thought to publish if I do it all in one sitting
But for a more detailed posts like my latest ones on problems with Linux, it takes me much longer and I work on it over a span of 2 to 3 days !
That’s ofcourse helps me to think and write better and not cause my brain to fart.
Alex the Freelance Twin
August 3rd, 2008 1:34 am
I write about freelancing and such. I usually have to do my posts in one sitting, or I get distracted and won’t finish it. If I really work hard on it, I usually spend 30 minutes to an hour per post
Danielle Vyas
August 3rd, 2008 1:35 am
Specifics.
About 1-2 hours for a long post.
I can belt a shorter one out in a half hour.
Great weekend all.
Pay Per Click Fool
August 3rd, 2008 1:36 am
Usually about 1-2 hours … I think the post type would be the biggest factor in time-to-post.
Research, how-to-guides, lists, etc… would take the most time, while, personal, rants, breaking news etc… would seem to take the least
just a thought
Gina
August 3rd, 2008 1:47 am
Shorter posts about ten to fifteen minutes. Longer news and review posts about 30 minutes to an hour. I write in entertainment.
No Debt Plan
August 3rd, 2008 1:53 am
Usually 20 to 45 minutes. I write about personal finance and I don’t post a lot of just straight up news.
Ricardas | Richard
August 3rd, 2008 1:54 am
I think I write a post in about 1-2 hours periods. It depends on research and modifying pictures. If i have no information and good quality pictures, I spent more time on one post.
Dante Explorer
August 3rd, 2008 1:57 am
I have a literature site, not counting the years spent reading and research, the actual post writing time is about an hour.
Kiki
August 3rd, 2008 2:01 am
I have a lot of recipe/food content on my blog- those posts usually take about an hour because I need to write up the recipe, add in the instructions and any special notes, resize photos for the web, and then proofread everything.
More general posts can take between 5-20 minutes depending on the length of the post and the topic I’m covering.
Shanel Yang
August 3rd, 2008 2:07 am
2 days is my average for the deep psychology personal development stuff. But I really can’t separate the research from the writing. “Lighter” lists, like my “200 Happiness Quotes” only take a few hours of actual writing, editing, etc.
Rian
August 3rd, 2008 2:08 am
It generally takes about 45 minutes to get a post to be airtight. By that I mean, writing it, re-reading, editing, ad nauseum until I think it’s actually finished.
By 45 minutes, I mean posts like these:
Link 1
Link 2
Longer posts like this take about 90 minutes to write and edit.
Rian
August 3rd, 2008 2:10 am
I should mention that when I was writing for Ars Technica, my other fellow writers would take about that long to write similarly in-dept articles. So the more you practice, the faster you get from idea to finished product.
No one really got much faster than that, but there were a few people who were a bit slower.
Graham
August 3rd, 2008 2:10 am
I’m still new at this but it takes me between 2 and 3 hours per post depending on the length and how much research I need to do. This usually includes three drafts.
The first draft throw things out with some sort of plan. A second draft takes care of the plan, most of the grammar issues and the links. I go through one more time to make sure it’s how I like it.
It is time consuming but I’m only posting once per week. A daily blog would require less attention to detail with my current skill. I’ve decided to keep the quality as high as I can manage so for me that means posting less often. Since one of my goals is improving my writing style and skills the once per week posting works for me. Twice per week may be a doable goal but time shall tell.
BG
August 3rd, 2008 2:15 am
Writing a German blog about technical writing/language/translation: 15-60 minutes for a normal post, up to three hours if I make one of my tutorials (with a little screencast and all).
Cassie
August 3rd, 2008 2:17 am
Oh boy, it could be anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 days. The posts that require a lot of research are usually ones I have to come back to. I’m a single mom with 2 kids so I don’t get very many opportunities to sit and write without being interrupted.
I write about being a work at home mom. Some of my posts are about my own experiences, (those ones I can usually push out pretty quickly) and others are reviews on tools and software, tips, ideas, lists, etc. which sometimes take hours.
stephentrepreneur
August 3rd, 2008 2:20 am
I’ve been writing articles for about five years on differing subjects ranging from CSS through to U2-Concerts. Sometimes the thought-process might only take a few minutes to concoct, but the write-up may take between a few hours and a few weeks! The time varies on the amount of research required, the timing of the article in regards to social-etiquette, and whether I feel the opinion is warranted. And I like to find and shoot a few photographs that will match the content of the post — that can take the longest time!
That said, when given a topic-of-interest to write upon I can quickly write witty, controversial, obscure paragraphs. Like just now with this response. Whilst might some might suggest simply posting these paragraphs, I prefer to ponder the words-used, consider other people’s point-of-view, and cross-link where ever necessary.
BlackHatWay
August 3rd, 2008 2:21 am
Only 15-30 minutes usually. Then there are those days when I got a lot to say and I write maybe for even few hours.
Of course researching always takes from 30 minuets to few hours.
Jeffrey
August 3rd, 2008 2:22 am
since i only write about 3 times a week, i write longer, more content rich posts with lots of research, links, and custom bullet images (usually).
To do all of that, it takes me 1.5-3 hours per post. i just prefer that method over shorter, more frequent type postings.
DJ
August 3rd, 2008 2:25 am
Most of the time I’m a “mommy blogger” so it varies.
a quick post about something of interest- 15 – 30 min
a tutorial, start to finish- maybe a day or two
my thoughts on something- 1-2 hours
But because I’m also caring for my 3 year old at the same time, there can be alot of start and stops!
Corporette
August 3rd, 2008 2:27 am
I write a daily post every day called the “TPS report” that features one item of work-appropriate clothing. That takes me about 15 minutes per post, once I’ve found what it is that I’m going to feature. I tend to write those on my lunch break, or if I can, do the week’s worth on Sunday.
For longer stories — like on Thursday, “10 things about saying goodbye”, intended for summer associates and clerks returning to law school and business school — that one took about 3 hours to write, after I’d been thinking about it for 2 weeks. I’d say 3 hours is about average for a longer post. I do a feature called “360 review” where we review a fictional character’s outfits — those take far longer than one would think, like 3-4 hours to find all the pictures and so forth.
But still: glad to say I’m not having any writer’s block — which is a far cry from EVERY other writing experience I’ve ever had in my life.
Caitlyn I.
August 3rd, 2008 2:30 am
Usually, I come up with the post idea before making the post, so therefore, I can just get going. Once I begin writing, however, I usually come up with an extra idea or two to plug into the post.
I’m generally a straightforward person, but between this and having to add images to the post, my blogging time per entry is about 2 – 3 hours, I would say. Two hours is most likely the average. Three hours is for a longer post or extreme circumstance.
Tim
August 3rd, 2008 2:40 am
2-3 days for research, one day for the actual writing/editing part.
Genlisae
August 3rd, 2008 2:47 am
I almost always write my posts in one sitting. I find if I leave them and come back later I am likely to hate everything I have previously written, delete it and start again.
As for how long it takes me, most serious posts take around 20 minutes, the complete fluff, 5 minutes. Oddly the 5 minute posts are more well received by readers.
Genlisae
August 3rd, 2008 2:50 am
I forgot to mention the research component in my previous comment. For me research is an ongoing process. I am always reading and making notes of things that interest me. When I sit down to write my blog posts I find I already have an extensive list of resources and it is a simple matter of referencing what I have already found.
Jumble Blogger
August 3rd, 2008 2:52 am
Normally 1 hour for writing. But depends sometimes. Can take even one week for research and improvement.
Betsy
August 3rd, 2008 2:56 am
Since I post more or less weekly, I’m more with the 2-3 hour group, excluding the research. But I have two types of research: one is reading and exploring for ideas that I can build on. This may take a day or two except when I’m traveling when the ideas are more based on the experience right in front of me. Then there is the quicker research that comes along with the writing, as when I mention something and then look for a site that would give more information. Image searching is sometimes more time consuming than I like, so when possible I try to set up and photograph my own images.
Nicki B.
August 3rd, 2008 3:01 am
Research and all included it takes me about 2 hours to write a full blog post.
Carol Clifton
August 3rd, 2008 3:05 am
Interesting question that I think about often. The actual writing piece is about an hour…my very own lousy editing is about 15 minutes and then adding pictures(got to be pretty) then push publish is 90-120 minutes.
gary katsevman
August 3rd, 2008 3:08 am
I just recently started blogging again. I started a few times, wrote one post, and then stopped writing there. But I am determined to start again. So far, I have 2 posts on my new blog, which I started about a week ago: gary.katsevman.com/blog/
For me, these two posts took around 30 mins each to write. However, since I am almost always reading lots of blogs, have about 100 blogs i skim on a regular basis, including yours, i guess you could say that it actually took me around 2 hours, if you include research, aka, reading blogs.
The actual writing will probably never take me longer than 30 minutes, and I usually like to write everything down in one sitting. I am not sure what I would do if I didnt get a chance to finish a post in one sitting due to writer’s block, or some other reason. Any tips?
FLG
August 3rd, 2008 3:15 am
Seeing as my blog is primarily personal, there isn’t a whole lot of research I need to do. The main thing is just finding inspiration to write. Once I find something, I can hammer out a post in half an hour to an hour. If I’m not feeling it, it can take a couple days and a few rewrites. I like to keep a few posts cued up and then just give them a re-read the day before they’re published to make sure they’re still reading good and that I haven’t missed any obvious mistakes.
Jaime
August 3rd, 2008 3:16 am
We are a visual blog, so without research and photo manipulation, the actual creation of the post is less than 10 minutes. Factoring in the research, photo time, etc…it is more like 20-30 minutes per post. If we decide to write a long post, the time will at least double.
Nadine
August 3rd, 2008 3:18 am
It widely varies for me. When contributing to niche blogs linking to other articles/sources, I can turn out a short post in 15-20 minutes. When it’s more research-heavy, it can take significantly longer.
I find that my personal blog can be the most time-consuming, as I’m constantly honing my tone and language choices. There’s more editing and proofreading involved when it’s a story about my life rather than a product review or pop-culture observation.
Daniel
August 3rd, 2008 3:23 am
My problem is the topic to write, so others do not take longer than 30 minutes
Cheers for all
Genesis
August 3rd, 2008 3:26 am
It usually takes me 30-45 minutes to write a blog post. Mine tend to be longer and fairly detailed, so there is research in there, as well. I often write a bit, get distracted by kids or other work, or Twitter or IM . . . etc. etc. etc. :) Then I come back and work some more, so the actual time lapse ends up being several hours.
Alexander M Zoltai
August 3rd, 2008 3:26 am
My posts begin with a few news clips, have commentary by me and finish with a spiritual quote.
I do a post in one sitting.
Time? Counting the search for appropriate news and quotes, it takes about two hours.
~ Alex
Carla
August 3rd, 2008 3:32 am
My last post took about 20 minutes. On average about 20-30 minutes. Maybe I should spend more time? :)
Shaun
August 3rd, 2008 3:38 am
I usually spend 1-2 hours per post in one sitting. I write “authority” posts that are comprehensive.
Alex Fayle
August 3rd, 2008 3:48 am
About half an hour – 15 minutes to write it then 15 minutes to rewrite it and/or cut back all the unnecessary words/ideas.
Vacation Rentals
August 3rd, 2008 3:52 am
About an hour, depending on the article. Some more some 15 minutes.
Mary Corbet
August 3rd, 2008 3:56 am
It depends on the post.
If I’m writing a “quick” post to direct readers to other topics of interest online, or to feature another website that has something on it I think would be of interest to readers, I can usually whip up that kind of post in about 15 minutes. Those are “one sitting” posts, definitely.
But those types of posts are in the minority – I might do one every week or so.
Posts that feature a project will usually take a lot longer, because I have to take photos and format them, and then write out a more detailed “how I did it.” These types of posts can take up to an hour to prepare, and I usually come back to them to polish them up or add little tidbits before publishing. Book reviews fit in this category, as well. They can take me up to an hour to write and polish, depending on what I’m highlighting in the book, and what other information I point readers to outside the book.
Posts that include a detailed photo tutorial, or a product comparison, can take up to two hours to write, and sometimes even longer, and I always come back to them to polish them. The writing, though, is the easy part, and it takes the least amount of time in the whole preparation of the post. Working up a tutorial that includes photos of every step of the way – especially if it’s a complicated process – takes longer than writing the post!
My video tutorials usually take at least a couple hours for editing, as well, but the writing of the post doesn’t take long, since the video itself is the feature. Actual filming time isn’t included in this. I’ve spent 6 hours in a row filming video clips, and ended up with material for only about 4 videos of 4 or so minutes each!
I always spend at least 10 hours a week working on the blog itself, as far as writing goes, and that doesn’t include getting out and seeing what other people in the niche are up to, or responding to e-mails, etc. Easily, time-wise, I put in 15-20 hours a week on my blog, and sometimes more. And again, this doesn’t include the work behind the scenes – my own personal projects that I work on and photograph so that I can blog about them.
Blogging is a time-consuming process. I often talk to people who ask how much I make a month blogging, and are amazed that I make “that much a month” just by “blogging” (as if it’s doing nothing!)… they rarely understand the time that goes into it!
Mary Corbet
August 3rd, 2008 3:59 am
Woops. Sorry about the length of that comment! Now you know why it takes me a long time to write a post.
Actually, that took me less than 5 minutes to write…. I had a great typing teacher….
James
August 3rd, 2008 4:06 am
30-60 minutes, usually. If I write anything more extensive, I usually write it over a period of several days maybe spending up to 2 hrs at any given time.
ROW
August 3rd, 2008 4:10 am
I would say it depends on the topic I am writing for. If it is technical which requires screenshots, images it takes around 2-3 hrs otherwise some posts can be wwritten in as little as 15 mins also
Peter Cooper
August 3rd, 2008 4:10 am
Ideally 5 to 10 minutes. I’ll take up to an hour if it’s going to be something mega. This “Getting Real” strategy to writing must have something to it, as I have 16k subscribers on my main blog! :)
Of course, reading the above, I now know why people go crazy at less than $50 a post ;-)
Loralee
August 3rd, 2008 4:11 am
Roughly 30 minutes, give or take. I spend much more time on the behind the scenes aspects of my blog because I am a much better writer than a technical geek, networker, or business woman.
Ultimate Blogging Experiment
August 3rd, 2008 4:15 am
Depends what kind of article I’m writing. If it is a pillar article and I for sure take a couple hours to make it absolutely perfect because I know in the long run a lot of people are going to see the article. However if it is just a simple article and I’m not expecting people over a year to keep reading then it probably takes me 30 minutes to an hour.
ramiro marques
August 3rd, 2008 4:16 am
I usually write 500 words posts and it takes me 20 minutos to write, more 5 minutes to rewrite and cjeck the words. More 5 minutes to get the appropriate links. So, each post takes me 30 minutes. If I have to make reasearch, it can take me one hour or two. My posts are about education, teachers careers and publica schools.
Syed Balkhi
August 3rd, 2008 4:23 am
Time varies with different type of post but I will say 60 – 90 minutes would be an estimate.
Because I have to search for sources and all.
My last post – http://www.balkhis.com/advertising/13-ways-i-used-to-promote-my-blog-to-success/
took me close to 2.5 hours to write. With all the images and such.
Scott Marlowe
August 3rd, 2008 4:24 am
Probably on average I spend about 30-60 min on each post. Some less, some more. My posts generally focus on different things having to do with sci-fi/fantasy and specifically writing in those genres.
Ultimate Blogging Experiment
August 3rd, 2008 4:28 am
I hate how my comments always get put in moderation and they never get posted. It isn’t like I am standing problogger.net.
infmom
August 3rd, 2008 4:28 am
How long it takes, depends on how much research I have to do. For http://tattoo.infmom.net I often have to look things up and locate appropriate Creative Commons licensed artwork, so I’d say that a post there takes at least half an hour, usually more (fortunately, I am a very fast reader and typist, and good at Google searching).
For my LiveJournal and my personal journal http://infmom.net/journal, it’s all a matter of opinion, so unless I’m talking about history and have to look things up to make sure I’m historically correct, I type 110wpm so most posts take 15 minutes or less.
Kate
August 3rd, 2008 4:29 am
sometimes my posts are as simple as a sentence about a cute artist or blog I’ve been into that day,
sometimes they are a little more in depth which usually takes about 20 minutes to write.
but on occasion I like to research and make a nice meaty post in which case I will usually:
- jot down the idea as an outline as a draft in WP
- research a little
- write the post in microsoft word (saving it as a draft in WP if i tend to edit it over a few days time)
- let it stew, try to gather further points if neccessary
- polish it up
- post it on my blog
Leon Westbrook
August 3rd, 2008 4:31 am
It takes me on average 20-30. Though sometimes with research it will take upwards to an hour.
Eric Grey
August 3rd, 2008 4:51 am
My posts require some research and going through notes, as well as a fair amount of thought – I would say a pillar article takes about 2 hours (but can be up to 3) and shorter posts clock in around 45-60 minutes.
I always wish it would be less – but when I spend less time my quality drops. I’ve been writing on the topic for a long time, so don’t see that with more experience I will get faster. :)
It’s time to outsource some writing.
Eric
Jerry
August 3rd, 2008 5:01 am
Each of my blog posts is hand-crafted from fine hand-tooled leather which I tan myself and inlay with onyx and lapis lazuli. So, depending on the topic, it generally takes from twelve to eighteen months. Except for the stuff I scrape from Wikipedia.
skykid
August 3rd, 2008 5:16 am
Sometimes I write my posts for 10- 15 minutes – recently especially when I review a movie the process can be as long as week. It really depend of how inspired I am to write something
Alexandra Popovic
August 3rd, 2008 5:20 am
I blog less frequently but my posts are longer than average and usually take days for me to perfect! I’ll do the first draft and have to leave it a few days so that when I revisit it, it feels “fresh” and I can be more objective.
I am finding however, that now I’m definitely putting more thought/work into them than when I started. That is why I don’t know how you do it Darren, how many posts do you average PER DAY? ;)
Carol Ferndale
August 3rd, 2008 5:28 am
At the moment it seems to be taking me forever and a day.
You know what they say: work expands to fill the time available. With my own blogs there is no deadline, but with posts I do for other people, there is, so they get done. Meanwhile my own blogs languish.
Annkur P Agarwal
August 3rd, 2008 5:37 am
Normal news based articles take anywhere from 10-15 mins, and we are generally in a hurry to post them …
It takes 30 – 45 mins approx for opinion based articles. These are generally written over a couple of days as ideas pool in. Or at times at a stretch.
So in case the story says “Nokia launches 5800 Tube” it will be a general news article. But if it says “Do the iPhone killer’s match the mighty one?” or “Will camera phones replace your digicams?” – Then it takes some more time.
Currently only on rare occasions we take a interview or word from some industry expert to quote. That can take some time …
Mr Sun
August 3rd, 2008 5:37 am
It usually takes me from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on what kind of article I make.
Lists seem to be quicker for me to make while tutorials take much longer
Annkur P Agarwal
August 3rd, 2008 5:39 am
And yeah
@ Matt – IE sucks
Kathryn
August 3rd, 2008 5:39 am
It all depends on how many photos I have to take, edit in photoshop, and then write the description that goes with each step. A post usually ends up averaging 20 to 30 minutes per finished picture in a tutorial.
Glenn S
August 3rd, 2008 5:44 am
a couple hours for really detailed posts. for quickies, no longer than a half-hour
Kathi D
August 3rd, 2008 5:44 am
Once I sit down to actually write, usually no more than a half hour or so. But I have written it and rewritten it in my head for most of a day by then.
Stephanie Quilao
August 3rd, 2008 6:00 am
My avg posts are btwn 300-2000 words so that can take me anywhere from 1-5 hours. Plus there is all the “thinking time”, the time in my head where I’m formulating what to say. Sometimes a post will take a couple days because if the topic is emotional or might have something heated I let the post sit for a day, then I reread the next day to make sure that what I wanted to say & the tone I wanted to communicate is there.
I’ve learned that sometimes it’s good to let a post sit a day+ before publishing live.
Glenda
August 3rd, 2008 6:04 am
It depends on how much research I do/how many pics I include in the post. I’ve been doing this a couple of months and am still making changes in my procedures as I learn more. I really love blogging! My average length of time would be about an hour.
Basil Vandegriend
August 3rd, 2008 6:17 am
I’d say about 1 to 2 hours per 500 words. More technical articles usually take longer.
SE7EN
August 3rd, 2008 6:30 am
1-2 hours to proofread and edit here and there.
I don’t count research time.
Andy Merrett
August 3rd, 2008 6:31 am
Varies a lot depending upon the types of post:
Fast breaking news, usually from a press release or ‘tip’: 10 minutes, including sourcing a picture, doing the usual blog admin stuff.
General news, from press release, company site or other web site: 15-30 minutes depending on complexity.
Opinion piece / feature: Anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours or more, depending on complexity, spontaneity, inspiration, etc.
I find most pieces are written in one sitting, particularly news where it needs to be published, though I do sometimes sit on drafts, and opinion pieces and features can be brewing for quite a while, often in draft or note form.
By the way, most news pieces I write are between 150-300 words, whereas opinion pieces and longer features will usually hit 400-500 or more words.
Sandy Naidu
August 3rd, 2008 6:36 am
Couple of hours for a pillar post and half hour for a regular post
wizeguyztees
August 3rd, 2008 6:37 am
I take about a half hour. But my niche is t shirts and I try to let the photos of the product do most of the talking. I am not trying to split the atom or redefine the wheel.
Dutch Schultz
http://www.wizeguyztees.com/blog
Mike Nichols
August 3rd, 2008 6:39 am
I write essay-type posts of around 1000 words on mental health topics. They are footnoted and depend heavily on research. I generally post daily.
It takes me 3-4 hours to write a post, including some research. I also do some research beforehand. I usually have four or so posts in the works at any given time.
I want to have posts written in advance so I could take a break, but haven’t succeeded in doing so yet!
blogversary
August 3rd, 2008 6:55 am
Altogether between 30 minutes to 60 minutes for my personal blog. I usually start a post and finish it later in the day or the next day.
I am starting new website where I presenting more researched material and it takes about the same per post. \
More time is spend in research, format and proofing it seems some days, but if it helps the content look and read better it is worth it.
blogversary
August 3rd, 2008 6:56 am
Altogether between 30 minutes to 60 minutes for my personal blog. I usually start a post and finish it later in the day or the next day.
I am starting new website where I presenting more researched material and it takes about the same per post. \
More time is spent in research, format and proofing it seems some days, but if it helps the content look and read better it is worth it.
Bartosz Zajączkowski
August 3rd, 2008 6:58 am
15-30 minutes to develop a draft. Then it waits a day or two before cleaning up and final editing. I think total time is about 60-90 minutes, depending on complexity.
Josh DeLung
August 3rd, 2008 6:59 am
I guess it probably takes me about one to two hours to write a blog post. I usually keep a sticky note up on my dashboard (PC users probably have a different visual right now than my fellow Mac users) to take down ideas throughout the day for posts and keep a list there.
When it comes time to blog for the day, I just pick the most relevant and doable topic for the day from that sticky note and start writing. Sometimes, if I need more info, then I Google for it, and just hyperlink to the info and use quick explanations and get on with the writing.
The lengthiest part is probably picking appropriate photos and putting them in. If you check my blog, you’ll notice 85 percent of my posts usually have a banner image under the title. Normally, I find two or three relevant photos/images and Photoshop them into a neat graphic for the banner. I think I use about a 400 x 100 pixel image for my banners (that too is kept on a dashboard sticky note widget).
The last thing I do before I post for the day is add all of the alt text, image titles and tags to the post. This can take a little while because I want to find the most relevant search terms possible so as to generate more traffic to the post if possible.
It really just depends on the day and the post. On average, again, probably just under two hours. But on days where I edit video I’ve taken to put up, it can get toward four hours or so. On days where I just copy/paste some stuff from one of my newspaper stories and then link to the newspaper’s Web site for the rest of the story, it’s a 10-minute job.
Thanks for reading!
Josh
joshuadelung.blogspot.com
Rick
August 3rd, 2008 7:03 am
I would say 30 minutes a post. Longer if there is some research involved. One of my blogs requires extensive research which I spend hours on while the actual post takes about 30-40 minutes.
Rick
Andreas
August 3rd, 2008 7:06 am
Articles for Search Engine Optimization take me about 30 minutes research, 15 minutes writing.
Laura
August 3rd, 2008 7:13 am
I would say an hour for a regular post,
I use PBWiki to put topics of interest, news clips, etc until I need something for a post. Writing takes about 20 mins.
Rajaie AlKorani
August 3rd, 2008 7:20 am
Would’ve been easier if you used a poll. Anyway, it usually takes be an hour to write a complete post (proofread and everything)
Davina
August 3rd, 2008 7:30 am
It takes me anywhere from 1 hour to 4 or more. The longer posts are not written in one sitting. I tend to write about personal growth, but do take a break from that with various musings about people in general, or some poetry. I’m rather new to blogging, so haven’t quite found my voice yet.
Hustle-Life
August 3rd, 2008 7:37 am
It probably takes about 30 minutes to an hour to get it done…
Matt
August 3rd, 2008 8:00 am
About 1.5 hours if I am writing a tutorial (ActionScript/Flash)
I really should spend longer though as my writing really needs to be improved.
by the way folks I have just picked up this neat little plugin called commentluv check it out http://www.fiddyp.co.uk/
description
Pass a bit of luv onto your commenter’s by providing a titled link to their last blog post. This plugin attempts to parse the feed of the comment author by visiting their site and looking in the standard locations for a feed. If no default feed is found, it will attempt to parse the users page for a feed link and parse that instead.
Armando G
August 3rd, 2008 8:05 am
It takes me about 2 hours to do a blog, I think it takes that long due to lack of experience and having to edit down my verbose tendencies. Most of the entries at http://bearonthepath.blogspot.com/ are experience oriented so I do not count research per se; I just review what I have done recently or what I feel would be useful information that I already have.
Success Professor
August 3rd, 2008 8:13 am
My average original post (ie. not just sharing links) takes approximately one hour to do. I find it best to break it up into two different sections. The first section is original research and writing. The second section is proof reading, posting etc.
James
August 3rd, 2008 8:20 am
I probably take about an for each post. It just depends on how the creative juices are flowing at a given time. I generally write in one sitting, although I will draft a heading and come back to it later once I’ve fleshed it out in my head a little.
I do most of my research through my RSS reader so it doesn’t take as long as it could, but I’m constantly checking it for updates.
Katie
August 3rd, 2008 8:23 am
Depends on how much time I have. Usually about one hour for a less detailed post (I brain storm dot points to create a ’skeleton’ article, then write the article by expanding on my notes).
If I have more time (ie. am not working a day job) I’ll take my laptop to a cafe and spend two hours or so, first doing the ’skeleton’ article outline & brainstorming… then spend an hour or so carefully writing and rewriting.
Sometimes I write an article in an hour then leave it over night and come back to it to refine it with a few more ideas I’ve thought of … then post it.
Florian Komm
August 3rd, 2008 8:25 am
The research can take some days. The actual writing takes between 15 and 60 minutes.
Jonathan
August 3rd, 2008 8:25 am
If you add the research, writing, and proofreading I would estimate it to be 2 1/2 hours per post.
Kelvin Kao
August 3rd, 2008 8:36 am
Wow, it really varies. Some of them are just random thoughts I have at the moment. Those would take like only 10 minutes to write. There are also posts that include a bunch of pictures, and sometimes those can take an hour or two to edit all the pictures and to include them with text. Some special posts, such as the one where I was trying to sum up a puppet character’s appearances in the last 20 years, it takes a long time to look for and watch all the footages (so many many hours… especially when I started watching stuff that doesn’t have much to do with the post). So it can vary from 10 minutes to 10 hours (not often though).
Brad Molen
August 3rd, 2008 8:37 am
For my cell phone site I have been doing a lot of op-eds recently and typically take about 30-45 minutes to do a good quality post.
I also usually schedule the post to be released a couple days down the road so I have enough time to change stuff if I think of something else.
L-Jay
August 3rd, 2008 8:42 am
Oh boy –
I have many types of posts so here goes…
Quick tips post – 10 mins
I have a ‘bank’ of posts. I write them as soon as they come to mind (I have about 15 waiting to go) – and I post them in between longer articles to break things up a bit.
Diagram posts – 10 mins
I already have a huge stash from other projects.
Video posts (shoot, edit, post) – 2 hours
I shoot 2-3 hours of footage (which covers at least 15 posts). I edit when I need it – usually I post video in a series – one a week at the moment. When summer holidays finish I will be video posting a lot more.
Article posts – about 250 words – 1-4 hours
I always write first drafts – I have around 30 first drafts at any one time – and then when I need to post (which is every day at the moment) I choose one that I feel like writing up for a post.
P.S. My blog has only been going for two months now but I wrote a lot of stuff the month before in preparation. I do plan to slow down once I have a decent amount of stuff up on my blog.
Paulo Faustino
August 3rd, 2008 8:44 am
Between 1h and 3h always.
Simon SC
August 3rd, 2008 8:56 am
I normally spend an hour and a half collecting data, researching topics, and so on. Actually putting it all together to write the blog post takes a flat 30 minutes. However most of the tmy post goes through a couple of revisions before actually being posted. I’d hate to have to shorten my posts or spell-correct myself AFTER I’ve posted.
Paula
August 3rd, 2008 8:59 am
I’d say it takes me about an hour. Just depends on how well I know the subject. If I know it, then the writing just flows and I can have a post ready in half an hour. If I need more time for research and finding images etc then can take up to two hours but usually never more than that.
Patrick Britton
August 3rd, 2008 9:02 am
Most of my posts are just opinion so it doesn’t take me long at all. After I read up on all the facts and form my opinion on the matter it only takes about 20 minutes to write and edit.
When I write for my Ubuntu blog it takes a considerably longer time to write. It can easily take me and hour or two to get things together. This is because those posts are usually more technical or product review orientated.
I have been trying to write more articles at once but with my niche being mostly about politics I don’t have to luxury to do so. If I am writing a series of posts or just basic opinion then I usually write as much as I can at once.
Sandra Foyt
August 3rd, 2008 9:19 am
It used to take a minimum 2 hours, but now I’m using Google Reader within Flock with the Greasemonkey extensions recommended by Lorelle at WordPress.
I’m finding material easily, and generating quick blog posts in about half an hour.
These shorter posts give me a break from the longer, more thoughtful posts that can take 1-2 days.
This is just one part of the Awesomeness I’m picking up in Ed Dale’s 30 Day Challenge to make money online!
Debra Dalgleish
August 3rd, 2008 9:21 am
On average it takes me thirty minutes to write a post, usually done in one sitting. My blog has articles for saving time and money in business, and features Excel tips.
Totally Consumed
August 3rd, 2008 9:31 am
Most posts take me anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours.
Jean
August 3rd, 2008 9:46 am
Rant posts usually take me about an hour to write from begin to publish.
For most posts, I usually have to go back onto them a few times before I’m happy with them, and it can take up to a few hours for each.
Maria Reyes-McDavis
August 3rd, 2008 9:47 am
Typically an hour to post, with full concentration on that one post (in a variety of informational topics, how-tos, etc), but that includes research and pictures.
Mind of a Mom
August 3rd, 2008 10:37 am
It really depends on the topic I am writing about or how many posts I have that day. It can be a little as 5 minutes or as long as 1 hour. Sometimes I have lots to say sometimes I want to share but limit the detail.
Cindy Dashnaw
August 3rd, 2008 10:50 am
I share examples of writing by organizations that either missed the mark by not accomplishing what they set out to do, or surprised me by how well done they were. The actual writing takes about 30 minutes. The research time varies; sometimes I’ll run across a sample just by opening my mail or reading something online, but once in awhile I have to search for a topic.
Hamdani Amin
August 3rd, 2008 10:52 am
Typically one hour just to write the post. But if I included the research it take between 2 hours and 3 hours. Research take most of the time since my blog is about domain names industry (from owning the name to domain dispute) and domain names marketing using blogs (tools, trick and trades).
Jodith
August 3rd, 2008 11:19 am
How long it takes me depends on 1) the type of post I’m writing, and 2) what you mean by *writing” a post.
If you mean by “writing” a post, sitting down at the computer and actually doing the writing, then usually only 5 or 10 minutes. Being the introvert that I am, most of my post is generally pretty well written in my head before I put fingers to keyboard.
However, if you look at the entirety of the post from getting the idea, to doing research, to finding appropriate images, doing the SEO work and proofing it, then it’s anywhere from 1/2 hour to a couple of hours. If I’m doing a how-to post on a technique in Outlook or some other software, then I’ll probably spend a great deal of time making screen prints and then optimizing them in GIMP before I start writing the post.
And, of course, I’m not counting the time I spend trolling other blogs and websites gathering ideas for posts. I tend to keep a list of ideas that come to me as I go through my daily list of blog reads so that when I’m ready to write a post, I have a starting place.
So, like I said, it can be as little as half an hour if all I’m doing it sharing a great site I found with my readers, to a couple of hours if it’s an involved how-to.
shun2u
August 3rd, 2008 11:39 am
i usually took up to 1 hour to finish up my 1 blog post.
Bamboo Forest
August 3rd, 2008 11:53 am
Takes me anywhere from 1 to 8 hours. Often falling in the middle or a little bit less of that range.
I always keep going back to my posts; I don’t write it in one sitting, nope.
Everyone must figure out their own tao, but I find hovering over a single post for a few days can make it its absolute best. You see things differently over time. You can add and take away over time, making the beast as formidable as possible.
And, that’s what I’m all about.
Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D.
August 3rd, 2008 12:05 pm
I write a blog on creating happiness and many of my posts tie in to something I’ve read or viewed. After the research is done, the actual writing takes an hour, not counting the time it takes to find just the right image.
Lately when I get an idea for a post I go to my blog, choose a title (which I usually change) and make a few notes or insert a link to go back to when I write it.
On some occasions I start writing a comment on another blog that goes on for so long that I decide to turn it into a post on my own log and trackback to the blog that inspired it.
Stan Dubin
August 3rd, 2008 12:11 pm
Half an hour in one sitting.
Atasinchi
August 3rd, 2008 12:12 pm
I usually take 2 to 3 hours per blog posts if they’re longer than 400 words.
Rene
August 3rd, 2008 12:55 pm
For our LiveWorkDream RV travel blog, posts take about one to three hours to write, not including uploading photos.
For our Tripawds website for three legged dogs, posts take about an hour.
We try to save up topics to make them informative and useful. Generally we don’t post short, personal thoughts kinds of writing, we usually write about our road trip sabbatical observations, or medical profiles and helpful tips for three legged dogs.
JEANNE
August 3rd, 2008 1:10 pm
Omg, maybe 5-10 minutes. I write really short posts, because I don’t have a lot of time. I should write longer posts, but I find that personally, I prefer to READ short ones myself, so that’s how I write.
I write them all in one sitting as well, unless I’m interrupted, but the interruptions are always brief.
Bryon
August 3rd, 2008 1:34 pm
I blog about trail running and ultramarathons and generally take between 2 to 5 hours to draft a post. Most of the posts are about trail running gear, companies, running teams, and races.
I’ve certainly had a number of posts that take more than 10 hours. There were “articles” and were either interview based or required extensive research as well as quite a bit of writing time. These articles have included a company profile, summaries of ultrarunning teams, and issue based stories like environmentally sustainable efforts in trail gear.
While these stories how a back bone of the iRunFar blog, I’ve noticed that I get as much or more traffic and very often more comments when I publish short posts on either controversial issues or a broad category of gear. I can draft the post in an hour or less and golks end up writing the full story for me.
Jarrod - Warrior Development
August 3rd, 2008 1:45 pm
1-3 hours to write a post + 1/4 hour – 1 hour to edit the next day.
Self development blog with posts generally between 600-1200 words.
Most of the time it is one sitting. But if it is a complex topic for me to phrase I’ll do a couple of sittings.
Software Developers
August 3rd, 2008 2:11 pm
If I’m writing a programming tutorial it generally takes me about an hour to get all the details written out properly.
If I’m just writing a regular post anywhere between 30minutes to 1 hour. Every week I’ll write a shorter link post that’ll take 10 minutes :P
Nate
August 3rd, 2008 2:14 pm
I’m a food blogger, which entails adding pictures to my food. So part of the time building a post is in getting the images to look right. The actual writing can take 1-2 hours because I constantly edit along the way. I’m not one of those who can just pound out text in 15 minutes. Then I proofread, etc, etc until I feel it’s the best that I can do. So total time I would say is 4 hours per post. I wish I could get it down to under 2.
E-Ninja
August 3rd, 2008 2:27 pm
I use to take about a half an hour to an hour, but I found the articles I made read like I rushed them. So when I can I write the article and proof read and revise off and on for two days. Sometimes longer if I find too many errors and revisions. I admit my gramar stinks so I need the time to proof read.
Clara Mathews
August 3rd, 2008 2:32 pm
I am a novice blogger. I only have 2 posts. But the actual writing take very little time, perhaps 30 minutes to an hour. But getting it to look like I want takes much longer. I am new to Wordpress and still working out some kinks in my blog.
kazari
August 3rd, 2008 2:33 pm
I’m a food blogger, so my process is a bit different to anyone else’s previously mentioned. My posts can be split into quickies (menu plans and updates), recipes and howto/stories. The quickies take 15 minutes, and I usually only do one a week. They are either quick links or menu plans.
Recipes take time. I won’t include cooking time – but writing them up (and checking) taking a photo (and tweaking) usually takes over an hour.
How-to’s, stories and blog-events usually incorporate everything in the recipe post, plus finding links and taking more photo’s. Probably 2 hours.
I never do a whole post at once. Generally each week I have a good idea of what I want to post. I’ll cook something and photograph it – and then it won’t get posted until the next week.
Suzanne Roman
August 3rd, 2008 3:33 pm
I can be pretty slow with my writing and researching. One of my latest posts about colour ended up taking about 4 days, working 4 hours each day on it. Other times I can finish an article in about two hours.
AIAM
August 3rd, 2008 3:34 pm
30 minutes
I review podcasts. So before writing the post, I spend various amounts of listening time – I won’t count that. I write on average three paragraphs about a podcast. I add a picture and some links to relevant other posts, as well as to the podcast, its website and its feed.
It takes me some 20 minutes to write the post and then an additional 10 to get the links and the picture right.
Suzanna
August 3rd, 2008 4:02 pm
Takes me the better part of an hour for almost every post. I tend to be somewhat investigative, compare and make parallels, pull in several links, and write consistently 400-425 words. No matter how I try to shorten! Too often choosing an image takes 20 minutes. I write as a writer on the brain and blogs and Boomers and social media. I’m starting to do long series and writing them in a big batch to try to cut down the time while keeping the content value. I long for microblogging to take the place of articles, want to do podcasts and am concerned they’ll take even longer. Doing a bunch of pre-posts for a 3 wk vacay, so I’m a bit burned out. cheerios! -Suzanna
Sean
August 3rd, 2008 4:22 pm
I just started my blog and now I can kind of answer this question. Today I wrote two “pillar” articles and they both took me about 45 minutes from beginning to end.
Yongho Shin
August 3rd, 2008 4:31 pm
Everyone seems to be able to write posts so quickly! I take 2 – 3 hours per post, sometimes more. Every time I edit my post, I find more things to fix/add on it.
Ali from Aliventures (and The Office Diet)
August 3rd, 2008 5:12 pm
Each posts takes around an hour, split as follows;
It normally takes me 5-10 mins to plan, then 30-45 minutes to write a post around 500-800 words, which I’ll then spend probably 5-15 minutes editing, tweaking sentences, removing typos etc. (Those tend to be the ones I do as a staff blogger.)
The planning, writing and editing phases are sometimes all in one session, but more often split across two or three. I often do outlines for a batch of posts at a time, then go back and write & edit then one by one.
For my own blog, The Office Diet, it again takes about an hour for regular posts — but I sometimes do special ones (like my recent Dieting Glossary) which need more research and time.
Rich
August 3rd, 2008 5:54 pm
Interesting discussion topic with some interesting answers above. I find I usually take 2 to 2.5 hours to complete a blog entry, including prior research.
Lightening
August 3rd, 2008 6:13 pm
Mine vary HUGELY from a couple of minutes to a couple of hours. I sometimes write consecutive posts but generally not for the same blog. I may sit down and write 2-3 posts in a row for different blogs. I’d like to get into writing more posts in advance (a block of writing) but haven’t quite gotten that organised (or ahead) yet.
The posts that take me the longest are the instruction type posts, particularly if I’m taking screenshots to use. The quickest are quick update or note style posts on my personal blog. My gardening blog posts can be quick but often include photographs so that side of thing adds to the overall composition time.
Max Forlani
August 3rd, 2008 6:41 pm
It depends what blog I’m writing for. Articles for my personal blog are usually written in about an hour. Looking, optimizing and putting a picture in place, together with proofreading probably takes half an hour more.
For my blog Istanbul Trails, it takes much more time since I have to do research for it, or go through the notes I took when I visited the spot. For that blog, writing a post can easily go up to three hours.
Cheers,
Max
Stefan
August 3rd, 2008 7:12 pm
Usually about half an hour or so. Writing about my profession as a musician is a great advantage because the research part is very small. Writing the music takes a bit longer of course.
Linda Zdanowicz
August 3rd, 2008 9:39 pm
I write a dental practice management weblog and it takes me about 40 mins. to write a post. Basically, I get an idea and then the post just flows from that. Sometimes, if I add links it takes a little longer.
Linda
Recruitment Nick
August 3rd, 2008 9:57 pm
Usually I am blogging about something I have already researched (since my blog is following me starting up a company) so it only takes me about 15/20 mins to write it out based on the research.
If it is a proper article rather than just an update then i will leave it a day or so and then edit it, taking about 30 mins or so to do that.
Alec
August 3rd, 2008 10:12 pm
The best posts take between 1.5 and 3 hours complete. I usually do these at one sitting, with an occasional review a day or so later.
Gary Capone
August 3rd, 2008 10:23 pm
I write three types of posts – original articles, example articles with a resume assessment and recorded interviewers. Average writing times:
Orginal articles: roughly an hour to hour and a half
Example Articles: 30 minutes
Recordings: 2 to 3 hours
I write my articles at least a day ahead and spend 15 to 20 minutes proofreading to catch any types right before I post.
patricia de miranda
August 3rd, 2008 10:28 pm
i don´t post anymore everyday, maybe once a week…. so i take close 4 hours and during the week 2 hours per day for to save the drafts for future posts
Lawn Guy
August 3rd, 2008 10:34 pm
I tend to incorporate a lot of my own pictures into my blog posts so I spend the majority of my time manipulating them.
I love my subject matter so much that I can write a 400 word post in about 15 minutes.
Stanley Tang
August 3rd, 2008 10:56 pm
Anywhere from 15 minutes (when I don’t need research) to 5 hours (when I’m writing a blog series).
Stanley Tang
Mel Menzies
August 3rd, 2008 11:20 pm
How long does it take me to write a blog? Depends. I’m a speedy typist so – physically – only minutes. I’m the author of a number of books and articles so – mentally, from conception to birth – half an hour? I’m a perfectionist so – editorially, you want absolute honesty here? – could be days, weeks even.
What do I blog on? Anything that takes my fancy. My catchphrase is: I’m passionate about bringing hope to those who are hurting. So any health, current affairs, social or spiritual issue which is deserving of a rant and a remedy fires me up.
Mel Menzies – author of ‘A Painful Post Mortem’, a contemporary story of love stretched to its limits
cheaplee
August 3rd, 2008 11:20 pm
1 hour to write post
up to 1 hour to edit
up to 2 hours to get the format right in the Wordpress TinyMCE editor, including finding a picture, inserting it, tags, and just plain look and feel. I wish TinyMCE was more like Word. Otherwise, I would post a lot more in a week.
Taylor Blue
August 3rd, 2008 11:22 pm
I surf around the net all day…but I write an average of 15 posts a day for three sites…so it takes me about 15 minutes to actually write them after I have found the story and resized pictures and things like that.
himesh
August 3rd, 2008 11:22 pm
it takes me almost 4 to 6 hours to write a blog but i dont write it online at once i just write it down on a paper not necessarily in front of the computer.and then just type it when its done.
Justin Levy
August 3rd, 2008 11:25 pm
It generally takes me between 45 minutes and 3 hours to complete the entire process from research to publishing the post. A lot of this depends on the type of post I’m typing, how much information/experience I already have on the product/topic.
Being that my blog is only a couple weeks old I’m still getting used to the writing process so sometimes posts take me longer to develop. I write my posts in one sitting and before posting, I will walk away for 15-30 minutes to clear my head before proof-reading.
I write these different types of posts:
1. Original articles
2. Product/Website Reviews
3. Interviews
4. Other interesting sites/information
-Justin
Richard Farrar
August 3rd, 2008 11:37 pm
Wow, I seem to take a good bit longer than most, probably 3-4 hours, but the posts tend to be more instructional with quite a bit of research and cross checking etc.
Since I broke my neck, leaving me paralysed from the neck down, typing a 1,000 word post (my average length) probably takes a bit longer than the majority of people, at least that’s my excuse!
Pras
August 3rd, 2008 11:55 pm
Including the time spent on research, it takes me about 5 to 6 hours to complete a post.
Sarah
August 3rd, 2008 11:56 pm
It can take me as little as 10 minutes on my pet and beauty blog if I already know what to say when I sit down to write, or over two hours to write an in depth product review.
Sometimes it takes longer if I have to find products to feature on Sarah’s Surprises.
I usually sit down and write everything at once, unless the post is taking a long time to write, or unless I’m getting frustrated trying to figure out what to write, or how to phrase something.
Jeff - buzzmyblog.com
August 4th, 2008 12:09 am
My posts, which are about ways to improve your blog, are usually written in 2-3 hours. Of course it varies from post to post. Sometimes I’ll spend 5-6 hours, other times I’ll bang it out in 20 minutes.
Sometimes it can be frustrating when the posts you spend hours and hours on get little response. Yet, the one you threw online in 20 minutes sets the Internet on fire.
Truett Black
August 4th, 2008 12:14 am
I write about cross-cultural communication issues among businesspeople in the West and in Greater China, and about learning Chinese.
Short commentaries on news items related to a topic I’m interested in take about 30-60 minutes from article selection to commentary.
“Bedrock” posts that explore issues related to Chinese culture, cross-cultural communications between East and West, and learning Chinese take me from 2-4 hours to write.
I’d love to write more, but I have a number of ongoing consulting, training, and writing projects that prevent me from writing more of the longer, bedrock posts (and from learning how to add the bells and whistles so many blogs have).
Cheers.
Kobus van Wyk
August 4th, 2008 12:18 am
My posts are generally short (250 – 300 words), and are usually making a simple point (in my case, it has to do with encouragement to teachers to use ICT in their teaching). I gather ideas as I go along, recording them on my PDA, and adding thoughts, content and some “flesh” over time. Then, when I sit down to write the article, it takes me about 90 minutes to complete it, edit it and post it.
Dr Patty Khuly
August 4th, 2008 12:19 am
Usually an hour for the actual writing. I write about 500 words daily.
But then I’m always working on the back end, reading veterinary literature, pet news, etc.
On average then, including research time, probably two full hours per post.
Andy
August 4th, 2008 12:20 am
I usually write out my thoughts in my notebook, then type it up a few days later and edit it at that time. Then I post it. This gives time for the ideas to stew and see if I can think of anything else to add, and it helps to come back to it a few days later because you’ll notice more that needs to be edited for grammar and style.
Financialman
August 4th, 2008 12:31 am
My financial blog takes up to 3 hours per post because I have to take financial language and put it “In Simple Language”. That usually takes quite a few re-writes.
Financialman
John Sullivan
August 4th, 2008 12:52 am
5 minutes.I already know what I’m going to write.So it takes a few minutes to set all the links up in my post,to the high ranking dofollow sites that I link to in which are always many.Like just now right before I came here I finished my post saying hey go to Problogger.net cause I have learned so much from there and Darren is always looking for ways to help the new guy.Check it out if you get a chance:)
Thanks for everything
You da man
Melissa Silverstein
August 4th, 2008 12:53 am
There are a couple of different kinds of posts I write. Some take surprisingly little time. Maybe 10 minutes plus a little research. I try to do one longer think piece a week and that can take an hour. Interviews also take some time because I have to transcribe them.
Marie Louise
August 4th, 2008 1:23 am
I would say about 2 hours on average – from idea conception – thru research and execution. Definitely longer than once might suspect reading my blog entry.
Larry Brauner
August 4th, 2008 1:28 am
I mostly write thought provoking articles. They take me three to six hours to write and edit.
Dr. Sally Witt
August 4th, 2008 1:32 am
As most have said, it depends!
Blogging is usually an extension of my work and it is just a matter of putting into words the ideas that I am already working with, or information on a guest for my radio show. The blog itself may take 20-45 minutes between the writing, finding and resizing the photos (s), etc.
Then I market the blog post, putting links to it on twiter, utterz, plurk, facebook, myspace, and appropriate ning groups, etc.
By the time I am done, it is about 2-3 hours depending on the post.
Always a pleasure to read and be a part of this blog!
Sally
http://www.drsallywitt.com
ep
August 4th, 2008 1:33 am
Working full-time at a newspaper, I try to limit myself to about a half-hour per post. I have two blogs, so if all goes as planned, 60 minutes gives me a blog on each.
I also try to shoot for one short post — an announcement or video — and one more in-depth post with subtitles. After writing on deadline for years, I’ve learned how to crank out relatively clean copy pretty quickly.
My posts are mostly sports, fantasy sports and video games related reviews, tips and commentary.
Wayne Tully
August 4th, 2008 1:38 am
My posts only take under half an hour to write maybe less, which leads me to think I should post more than what I already do.
And the types of posts that I write are mainly informational, which also leads me to think that I should be writing in a few different styles to keep any readers that I do have interested.
ThePreppyPrincess
August 4th, 2008 1:38 am
Thanks for asking the question. It is always good to re-visit the topic.
On a good morning or afternoon, probably 2-4 hours. On those days I may break things into two posts. Sadly however, it is now generally 3-5 hours, if not longer on most days.
Whilst I do need to scan a substantial amount of data from a wide array of sources, do the fact checking & double-checking, link gathering & photo collecting, it is taking longer than I want.
I have landed back in the morass of writing posts that are too long (in my opinion) and in the process I am getting swallowed by the information gathering process. I know what I need to do to turn the tide back the other way, I just need to do it.
Grins,
TP
Manou
August 4th, 2008 1:45 am
It depends of course of the subject but let’s say 1-2 hours and sometimes upto 3 to 5 hours per post. Two hours on average
Dandelion28
August 4th, 2008 2:01 am
I used to the think the newspaper industry had an unhealthy obsession with blogging, Now that I’ve left a metropolitan daily to freelance I know why: Pay for professional writers is in free-fall thanks to these electronic sweatshops.
As much as web publishers say you can make money through multiple revenue streams, I’d like to meet a blogger who can support himself from this income and still have a life. The publishers are the ones profiting from your work, and your cheap labor is driving down wages for the entire profession.
In 2000 a news/content web site I worked for paid 40 cents to $1 a WORD. That’s a minimum $400 for a 1,000-word story. Writers got paid for their time, talent and expertise. Newspaper freelancers get about $350 for a feature; national consumer magazine writers are paid $1 to $3 a word. (I received $600 for a short piece in Business Week nine years ago.)
And you guys are willing to spend 2 to 8 hours on a single post for $25? Why would you accept that?
I wonder how long this comment will stay on the board.
Josh
August 4th, 2008 2:02 am
I like to treat blog posts like stews—I have them bubbling on the stove (in the “drafts” pile) and add stuff gradually, and when one gets sufficiently edible I hit “publish”.
HighGrace
August 4th, 2008 2:12 am
I am just getting started on Blogging, and am a wordsmith besides, so I am really, really slow. I appreciate all the comments above!
I like to sit down with a cup of coffee on weekends and let my mind freewheel. I write down each and every stray thought that comes into my mind. A really good source for inspiration later. Sometimes I use a software package called The Brain that lets me ’spider web’ all of the ideas creatively together.
I do take digital pictures, and editing them, although fun, probably adds an hour or two to a longer post. But they are easy to do. Some come from my photo archives; some are ‘object shots’ done specifically for that post.
I revise two or three times. Spelling is my bugaboo, as is placement on the Web page. I go back and forth two or three times once something is posted to change a word or two.
Adding affiliate links (Amazon, etc) also takes time.
I am hoping once I start doing this on a daily basis, all of these tasks will smooth themselves out.
Case in point: I have sitting in front of me 17 motivational diet books for review. Got to write the annotated list, take a pic of the stack for visuals, log on to Amazon to get all of the links. The writing is the least onerous. This one will flow because I KNOW what I am writing about!
My site is self-help motivational, which covers a lot of territory.
Sam Ruback
August 4th, 2008 2:41 am
I am happy to help with the research. My average post takes about an hour. However there have been a few in the past few weeks that have taken about six hours and a few that have taken 15 minutes.
Lindsay
August 4th, 2008 2:48 am
wow. it really depends. Good posts take 30 mins plus – when I write for IheartPGH.com – I like to fact check events and places – I want to provide readers with the best, accurate info. I also like to add lots of links for additional info. I have been using Zemanta for the past week and that has helped me locate lots of great info, but I find I am now spending a lot of time reading related blog posts.
lady coveted
August 4th, 2008 2:51 am
ooh probably an hour, sometimes more depending on the links and processing the images.
Lalaine
August 4th, 2008 3:20 am
I have a food blog…the cooking part is easy but I like to add little stories on how the recipe intertwine with my daily life. You know, dot.com family “sitting on the dinner table, sharing both food and life.” A regular post for me takes around one hour with all the photos and links and all. But sometimes, recipes and pictures will be in my hard drive for weeks because I can’t seem find “the exact words” to make them come alive.
Ankit Garg
August 4th, 2008 3:36 am
Total post time ranges from 10 mins to 1 hour inclusive of the research.
James Bashkin
August 4th, 2008 3:50 am
This varies tremendously for me- I have two main blogs and many subsidiary sites.
For my environmental site, Chemistry for a Sustainable World (link above), if I’m passing along a key bit of news, 10-30 minutes. If I’m writing an analysis of multiple news stories on related topics, I take a couple of hours, maybe more.
For my book review site, nearlynothingbutnovels.blogspot.com/, I have to read the book, which could takes a day, several days or, in rare cases, a week or more. Writing the review takes me 4-6 hours, typically, including proofing (I know I still miss things!).
Author interviews on the book site are also pretty time consuming- my first involved about 90 minutes with the author and three separate posts, each taking three hours or more. I did a lot of cross-checking and searching for relevant links.
For my four Squidoo lenses and two groups published under the pseudonym chemrat, between 5 minutes and 2-3 hours (some posts are just a link and a few words, though I do have to read the original story and I typically check facts with some searching and reading).
For photographs, either for Flickr, Gather.com (James B.) or uber.com, I vary from just dumping the disk to trying to learn PhotoShop methods better, and then applying them to have a better final image. A heavy processing job might take me a few hours (I’m still slow!).
Tom At The Home Business Archive
August 4th, 2008 3:55 am
Usually I can write a short utility post in about 30 minutes.If a post needs a lot of research it can take up to 4 hours sometimes.
WereBear
August 4th, 2008 4:13 am
I’ve done a post in under an hour… if:
I see a pic that sparks something I’ve already been thinking about, so I have the theme and the illustration.
I’ve put in the “back of head work” all along, so it’s just a matter of getting it down and tidying it up.
I’ve taken much longer if I’m not sure what I’m saying, it takes a path I wasn’t anticipated, or it needs research or just the right picture.
I have both pics and notes in my drafts folder, and try to work ahead, so I’m never faced with a looming deadline. That’s how sloppy stuff gets out on the web for all the world to see.
Of course, it helps I’m working with a timeless topic that is not usually dependent on breaking news or anything that’s urgent.
Richard Rinyai
August 4th, 2008 4:21 am
Hi Darren,
I usually spend about 15 mins. writing my posts, without formatting them, adding a picture, etc. I usually do it all at once, once I’ve figured out my topic.
Thanks,
Richard Rinyai
http://www.theprofessionalassistant.net
waterprise2
August 4th, 2008 4:30 am
Hi Darren: Short answer: Too long!
I just launched my first of an eventual three blogs I will have; it’s been up just over a month and I’ve done about 40 posts. It’s a Detroit-focused blog on history, fun facts, op-eds, and things to see and do in Detroit.
I spent a month just studying Problogger and other blog-writing sites, and learned so very much that has been helpful…especially having an “editorial calendar” since I have a specific theme or topic for each day of the week Monday-Friday. That way, I can often pre-write a post and schedule it for later.
But whenever I think I’ll get a post done in about 20 minutes, it’s usually an hour including research, pictures, linking, credits to others, etc.
Plus, I’m teaching myself as I go along, so that takes time, too.
But I am loving it…and that’s for all of the great ideas…I’ve used some of your ads…you got paid!
http://thedspotredeux.blogspot.com
Kolia Shlapak
August 4th, 2008 4:32 am
an hour and a half on average
Dennis Berg
August 4th, 2008 4:55 am
Approximate average data per post:
- 700 words
- 90 minutes
Blog info: encyclopedia-like, features and research on finance. All posts are in Russian. Always pay close attention to proofreading, correcting and formatting (which is something your posts lack, Darren).
Claudia
August 4th, 2008 5:28 am
Hi, Darren, wow, you are getting phenomenal responses to your latest posts posing questions for readers. Quite impressive!
I was an Information Writer II with the Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment at the University of Texas at Austin for nearly 4 years. This included posting to our internal blog, writing articles about IT at UT on a weekly basis or more, and editing/re-writing all the content that went up on our Web site; setting general communication styles, standards, and procedures, and “other writing duties as assigned.”
I began Fried Okra Productions as a sandbox to learn about blogging so that I could help UT faculty use it appropriately. It didn’t take long to capture my imagination, and I’ve loved every second of blogging at FOP.
Recently, I was promoted to Marketing and Promotion Coordinator for our division, and I do more managing than original writing, but I’m still responsible for all the Web and Print material. We have contracted out to renovate our site, and I work with an outstanding systems analyst to see that this process goes smoothly.
In the meantime, I have been experimenting with ways to turn all of the above to my advantage in creating a “retirement gig” using my writing/editing/IA skills. The 4 months I spent as The Good Musician for b5media gave me a clear picture of what is required as a professional blogger: lots of energy, lots of time, and lots of resources.
For work, it takes from 15 minutes to weeks to create new content, depending on the use. Communications and short articles 15-60 minutes, depending on the complexity, who I have to fact-check with, how long it takes them to get back to me, and adding audio or visual.
For FOP, which is a personal blog, it’s a fluid process, working around the day gig, night gig as The Good Musician, and ongoing gigs as a professional performing musician. I don’t limit myself in any way on this blog, except to keep it G-rated :)
For TGM, I felt that I was just beginning to hit a stride when the down-sizing took place. I am quite proud of the stats, which while modest, showed steady growth each month. Those posts took 1-2 hours, as I tried to find musical examples and/or visuals for the subject of each post.
In general, I think the time I take for any piece of writing depends more on the level of complexity, the political correctness required for the type of post, and how long it takes to hear back from resources or to check facts.
Excellent question to pose for your readers, Darren. I find I’m most likely to respond to invitations to post or comment that make me reflect on my knowledge and experiences, and articulate my thoughts in an authentic, helpful manner.
Once again, you are encouraging your readers to expand their boundaries and think!
Thanks,
Claudia
impNERD
August 4th, 2008 5:44 am
Really, really depends on the suject. If it is just news, maybe 30 minutes. If it is on something that doesn’t need much research, but is somewhat lengthy, 1hr. If it is something I need to research, take screenshots of, etc. probably 2 hours.
Kevin Connolly
August 4th, 2008 5:45 am
OMG, way too long, it seems… perhaps I’m an outlier on the bell curve! Simple posts, less than a couple hundred words, no images, requiring little research, perhaps 45 minutes. A 400-700 word post which requires some research and includes images, could take me 3-4 hours. It should be noted that I AM obsessive-compulsive, however. :-)
Love the blog, Darren – thank you so much!
-kc
Alex Costa - minimizeme.tv
August 4th, 2008 6:19 am
For me it take not less than 10 minutes and no more then 1 hour (not included research)
Curtis
August 4th, 2008 6:37 am
With research It takes me around an hour or two. If its what I think is a great post I spread it over a few days.
Nicholas Chase
August 4th, 2008 6:57 am
I am currently authoring five blogs… I know… why? Four of them are monetized, the fifth is to learn Wordpress. I generally write one blog post in about 20-25 minutes, a bit longer if I’m including images. I really enjoy writing, having let this skill go dormant since college.
I am trying to track the blog with the most visitors, using Lijit worldmap on each blog to show location and city of each visitor.
My hope is that one of the four will, ‘float to the top’ connected to the appropriate market niche. Your blog is very professional, and I read it as soon as the notification arrives.
Respectfully, Nicholas Chase http://www.donotreadthisblogunless.blogspot.com
Glenn Abel
August 4th, 2008 7:12 am
I write two kinds of posts, basically. Items or reviews.
An item — news analysis, how-to, top 10 list, etc. — takes about 45 minutes.
A review — usually of a DVD or two — takes about 2 hours.
Tori Deaux
August 4th, 2008 7:25 am
I normally write longer posts that require creativity, research and a lot of thought.
I almost never do it in one sitting so it’s tough to estimate, but I’d guess 4-6 hours. Then I spend another hour or so on finding and arranging images, making sure links are right, setting up the closing quote (when i used one) and so on.
I’m amazed at how little time many people say they’re spending on posts. Makes me wonder if how many of us have actually timed it!
Maree Harris
August 4th, 2008 7:26 am
Darren, it can take me up to 5 hours to write some blogs, depending on the topic. I usually write a draft and would do this in two hours, but I keep coming back to it and refining it. I sometimes wonder if I’m being too obsessive but I like to craft my writing. My blog is for professional women in leadership and I respect their need for high quality comment which is the reason it takes me so long to produce it.
Keyword Anchor Text and My Do-Follow Blog
August 4th, 2008 7:36 am
I take a long time usually around 3 hours sometimes longer, mostly because I try to always write very detailed and step-by-step posts. I usually do not doing in one sitting but write it all out the first time and come back after a couple of breaks and edit, clean-up and reedit again.
General subject of my blog is Internet Marketing with Affiliate Marketing, SEO, Article Marketing and Website Promotion.
JR
Aaron
August 4th, 2008 7:44 am
For my reviews (the main content of my blog) anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour per post.
Justin
August 4th, 2008 8:09 am
About 8 hours to do the research and writing. I tend to break this up into chucks over a few days.
karen (karooch from Scraps of Mind)
August 4th, 2008 8:16 am
My posts usually take between half an hour and half a day. THe ‘quickie’ posts like my Friday freebie links don’t take vary long. I try to collect the freebie links whenever I have a spare moment and store them so I can pull the post together quickly. And posts where I find interesting stuff on YouTube etc don’t take too long either. But a lot of the original posts can take up to half a day or more. That’s because If I write about a scrapbooking technique (that’s my niche) I will create a scrapbook layout to illustrate it. That can be very time consuming. Just as well i love it, eh?
Frank Bavar
August 4th, 2008 8:56 am
about an hour total after you take in account for research.. research takes the most time for me. After the research is done and notes are taken then the actual writing part is down-hill from there.
Material Girl
August 4th, 2008 9:18 am
I’m a fashion/culture blogger, so I often spend WAY more time than expected finding just the right photos and images. I’d say my chattier, more tongue-in-cheek posts tend to be quicker to write (e.g. “Why Crocs Are The Worst Shoes Ever”) but require tons of images, while the more serious, advice or analysis-oriented posts take much longer to write but tend to be less illustrated. Overall, I’d say 2 hours a post, on average.
But recently I’ve been doing more infrequent posts with more content, so maybe that will start to change….
Jess
August 4th, 2008 10:05 am
I can spend hours writing a blog. Especially when I have to incorporate diagrams as well. Because I give away patterns that takes time as well – sometimes days to make the actual design. The photography… The research…
Wow…it really is time consuming.
jess
veronicaromm
August 4th, 2008 11:11 am
On my sports blog about 15min for an update up to an hour for an athlete profile or longer piece.
On my writing blog, sometimes a poem takes 1 hour from concept to publication, sometimes not.
Marcos Dell Antonio
August 4th, 2008 11:14 am
I take normally one hour to write a post. They are normally about tech (.net in general).
Paul
August 4th, 2008 12:50 pm
For my tool blog.
1 hour Brainstoming
2-3 hours writing content.
1 hour making grammatical changes.
2-5 sittings over 2 days
Andy T
August 4th, 2008 12:57 pm
My blog is related to home maintenance.
I usually took pictures (carry and digital camara all the time)during my work or training.
To write up a post took me about 2 hr.
Nicholas Powiull
August 4th, 2008 2:01 pm
4 hours to 8 hours to write a 5 – 15 paragraph article on personal development. Most of the time I come back to the article instead of one sitting, it allows my mind to refresh and reach its peek again where intuition, inspiration, and intention is formed.
Silvi
August 4th, 2008 2:05 pm
Hello! First of all, I’ve been reading this blog for over a year but never commented since I was shy and also because my mother language is Spanish and my blogs are in Spanish and so on…
Well, I certainly take some time to write a post, no less than an hour and sometimes even three or four hours, since I like to publish research articles on different subjects at least once a week. On sundays instead, I only publish entertainment suggestion for users so it takes only one hour or so.
I always write posts in one go, once I start I don’t stop until I am glad with the results.
Congrats on this great and useful blog!
Anne
August 4th, 2008 2:08 pm
Longer than I want to
Fern
August 4th, 2008 3:02 pm
I try to have a mix of short, medium and long posts on my blog. Short posts I use mostly to pass along a snippit information, so it usually only takes me a few minutes to write and grammar check those sorts of posts. For a medium-legth post, I do about 15 minutes of research and reading, 15-20 minutes of writing, and 3-4 minutes of editing and looking for an appropriate image. For a long post, I’ll often write and edit it over several days. I’d say I do 20-30 minutes of research and an hour-and-a-half or so of writing and editing.
Paul William Tenny
August 4th, 2008 3:24 pm
Short posts probably five minutes or less. Long posts less than 30. It’s not uncommon to have a 1000-word post written and edited in about 24 minutes.
I really don’t understand how people can spend upwards of 30 minutes working on these tiny 213 word posts.
Jennifer Griola
August 4th, 2008 3:31 pm
It’s so much a range for me….a few have only been 20 minutes, but a researched article can be 2 hours, success stories are much more involved b/c there’s all the prep/contact work, the actual interview, the back and forth after the interview and the writing of the story is usually about 2 hours with revisions/ proofreading! I also am often writing with a toddler smearing finger paint on the wall or an infant attached to me in some way….so perhaps my full attention isn’t on writing when i am writing!
jennifer, http://www.lost100.com
adam.cikal.net
August 4th, 2008 4:00 pm
depending what the topic, ya… maybe about 5 – 15 minutes.
meetu
August 4th, 2008 6:36 pm
Hey!
It takes me about 3-4 hours to write a post on my movie review blog. For my personal blogs about an hour.
moneyman
August 4th, 2008 9:26 pm
I’d usually take around 15 – 20 minutes to write a post as they tend to be between 100 – 200 words.
foxnomad
August 4th, 2008 10:11 pm
15 – 30 minutes.
Stephen Ward
August 4th, 2008 11:19 pm
Give or take, about two hours.
Lori
August 4th, 2008 11:26 pm
I usually spend about one and one half hours writing, depending on content. When writing exclusively about life experiences, the words fly; when including research, the process goes a little more slowly. I write my draft on paper, then spend maybe 20-30 minutes typing it in, proofreading, and fine tuning.
Terra
August 4th, 2008 11:47 pm
A half hour to an hour when writing about fun subjects I am expert in, mostly gardening, my cats, sometimes a recipe or book review. I can spend an hour when I count research time; my most recent post on growing apricots and a recipe for apricot cobbler took one hour.
Paul
August 5th, 2008 12:05 am
I usually take 20 – 30 minutes when writing for http://newcastlecentric.com, though I might take an extra ten minutes to source an appropriate image for the post. Most posts are about 200 – 300 words long.
I also blog for a national newspaper site; postings are 500 – 700 words long. I tend to take a couple of hours over them, solely because they’re less reactive, it’s more feature-led writing than reporting.
Ani Long
August 5th, 2008 1:06 am
Usually it takes me an hour or two for something like reviews for anime or video games. However, if it is something like a report from an anime or a video game convention, or anything that has a story to it, then it is usually more, 3 hours at the most (my con reports require me to dig deep into my memory).
Sometimes, I do take some time and re-read before posting, or have posts and keep them for future use.
Juraj Masar
August 5th, 2008 1:13 am
Well, it really depends on topic I’m writing about, but usually it takes me less than one hour.
Terry Scoville
August 5th, 2008 1:29 am
It takes me a half hour for the recipes and up to 3-4 hours for my first account stories.
Andrew
August 5th, 2008 1:31 am
I write b-movie reviews. Each feature review takes about 8 hours of work. A good portion of that (on the average, 3 hours) is spent watching the movie – because I watch each film twice. Another half hour is spent doing the multimedia work, and the remaining 4 1/2 hours is spent writing and proofreading. The articles usually end up around 2000 words in length.
Bhavika
August 5th, 2008 1:54 am
We write on various topics from travel, culture to global issues. A post of about 300-400 words, right from finding a topic to doing research, sourcing pics takes 3-4 hours.
If you find the topic really early, then within 2 hours my post is ready:)
Bhavika
Nimic
August 5th, 2008 1:56 am
4-5 hours. I suspect as I go on, they will come out faster. About half of my articles involve a fair amount of research, and general fact checking. I’m pretty anal about making sure I can back up anything I write about in an argument. It’s come in handy once or twice when I wrote about a fairly controversial subject.
I write about environmental issues, but I focus on what individuals can do and on education.
Katherine Ploeger
August 5th, 2008 2:01 am
Since I just started blogging, I haven’t quite got it down right, but so far, here’s my process.
I decide to write on an idea (already thought of). I’ll write it in a few minutes, say 15, then put it away. Later, I’ll revise it, type it up on wordpress, and publish it.
I am working on a series called Writing is… so I’ve got a lot of ideas. I’m writing two or three posts at a time and scheduling publication for later.
Katieploeger.wordpress.com
FatFighter
August 5th, 2008 2:05 am
I do some posts that include interviews… so those take about 3 hours including the interview time, logging the interview, and writing it – I tend to take my time with those. I also do shorter posts about the latest news on diet/fitness/obesity epidemic – those take 15-30minutes. I am trying to get faster on my more in depth posts, but it’s hard because I am such a perfectionist sometimes!
Sean Chua
August 5th, 2008 2:07 am
Hi Darren. I am trying to find your book in major bookstore in Singapore, South-east Asia.
I have 2 blogs – one for business related and the other for personal footprints around the world.
For my educational business related blog, it usually take my time as it is an academic sharing blog and all information must be 100% correct. Bcos this will affect lives of many students that are aiming for better grades in Chemistry. This takes about 40mins per post.
For my personal blog on my personal daily life, i will normally take shorter time, say about 20mins per blogpost. And i am using Blogger to do this one.
Cheers
Sean
http://www.SimpleChemConcepts.com
Holly Hoffman
August 5th, 2008 2:09 am
It takes me about an hour to write a post, link it, format it, and include a photo (find/upload it, cropping, resizing). I write my post all at once, unless I am interrupted. I also really like writing a few at once on the weekend, then setting them up to self-publish later in the week.
John Rocheleau - Zen-Moments
August 5th, 2008 2:21 am
Hi,
Writing on Zen-Moments – self Help For Sensitive Souls a post of 800 to 1300 words usually takes about 4 hours from from conception to final version, including photo selection, etc.
:-)
John
Michael
August 5th, 2008 2:24 am
About 2 hours but sometimes upto 4 hours I will also say that the extra time usually produces a better blog article
This is the time I spend at the computer but there is time before where I usually think up the article in my head i.e. Title, Main points, etc..
I write on a variety of things related to kids There are weekend planners (Activities), Tips, and Experiences
Frances Palaschuk
August 5th, 2008 3:01 am
Good question! It takes me at least 2 full hours for almost every good post. I put a lot of time and research into the articles I write. Then the end takes at least 10 minutes to find and upload a nice graphic to go with the post!
liss
August 5th, 2008 3:07 am
About once every eight weeks I’ll knock out 10 – 15 posts in two hours. Then they’ll get anywhere from five – twenty minutes of polish time before going to print.
The rest of the time it’s one – three hours for a long “how to integrate this new principle of happy marriage into your life” Twenty-Forty minutes on a shorter post about an already introduced principle. A lot of time is spent looking for images and adjusting formatting.
Outside research would add another hour or two to each post.
Zerolove
August 5th, 2008 3:14 am
Most of the time, because of my excellent grammar it takes me days to write a post. Even then the grammar is horrid, but I’m using my blog to better my writing. So normally several hours 2 or 3 depending how many times I re read it before posting it. Some I keep for days before I feel good enough about to post it.
Angry Zen Master
August 5th, 2008 3:40 am
Usually fifteen to thirty minutes for a post on my entertainment blog. I post every week day.
Usually a few hours for my illustration tutorial blog. This includes illustrations to demonstrate the techniques or theories I’m describing. Even if it’s text only, it’ll take a few hours. I spend two or three days working on a post. A bit tedious, but I only post once a week on my tutorial blog.
Jim Hopkinson
August 5th, 2008 3:52 am
I think I have a fairly unique viewpoint since I turn the script of my podcast on http://www.TheHopkinsonReport.com into a blog post with supporting media.
So it breaks down to several steps:
1) Idea – usually hits me instantaneously, 10 minutes
2) Writing – roughly 1-3 hours, depending on research
3) Blog Posting – about 1 hour, depending on links & photos
4) Podcast – Since I have already done the work of writing an in-depth topic, I then record it as a podcast. The recording usually takes less than 1 hour, and the editing 2.
Most recent post/episode was about 5 hours total.
- Jim
Amanda
August 5th, 2008 3:56 am
It takes me 30-60 minutes on average to write a post and find an image for the post. But when I do interviews (for example, this week am interviewing the creators of Make DC Weird), or a longer personal essay, it can be several hours.
I don’t like to start a post and come back later to finish/publish…I lose my momentum.
John Hoff - eVentureBiz
August 5th, 2008 5:51 am
Hello Darren.
Time to write: 1-2 hours (more so leaning to the 2 hours).
When: In one sitting
My topics usually included:
- thinking like an entrepreneur
- web development
- real estate investing
kidsrtc
August 5th, 2008 5:54 am
This is a great topic, I have always wondered if I take to long to write a blog post. Last night it took me much longer than I wanted it to. From start to finish was 2-3 hours and that included research, gathering images for a gallery etc. Many times I will start a post and think it is going to be very simple, but then I really start to get into the subject and it takes me a lot longer. I need to learn when to quit. I am not a writer by profession so that is a real snafu.
Hilary
August 5th, 2008 6:41 am
It usually takes me 30 – 60 mins depending on how in depth the subject matter is and the number of links etc. I would be quicker if I was a bit better technically! I sometimes write a draft just to get my thoughts down and then polish it up later however most of the time I write in one setting. Topics tend to be focussed on my work managing the youth service and subjects related to that such as an upcoming visit to China with young people, and how the web can support our work.
Jon
August 5th, 2008 6:42 am
In total it takes about half hour for me to crank out a more detailed post.
James
August 5th, 2008 8:04 am
One of my takes me about 3 – 4 mins per post but the other takes a little more brainpower which pushes the time up to about 20 mins with checking etc.
rick
August 5th, 2008 9:27 am
Sounds like an interesting Wordpress widget to develop! After you click ‘Write a Post” or “Page’, a visible timer is started and runs until you hit save or publish. Hitting the save button will only pause the clock, hitting edit will restart it, hitting publish will end it. And only viewable to the author. Hmmm. Thanks for the inspiration.
Ari Herzog
August 5th, 2008 9:49 am
Writing about politics, society, and culture, I spend a minimum of 30 minutes on each post. Some posts take over a day.
But I rarely research and write non-stop, but break it up.
Jordan
August 5th, 2008 10:38 am
It generally takes me about 10 minutes to write a post that is comedic or light in nature. Same goes for celebrity or entertainment news. If we’re talking politics or an “enterprise” story that requires more in-depth research and perhaps more well-thought out wording to avoiding offending anyone, it can be upwards of an hour. i think I’m lucky in that I was a “traditional” journalist for many years and I’m used to cranking things out on deadline. More than anything, these days, I spend more time trying to make things look nice..links, pictures, etc. than on the actual writing. Having fun learning it all, though!
Jordan
August 5th, 2008 10:40 am
I just realized that in my comment above, I typed “avoiding”, where i meant to say “avoid”. Guess that’s a good reminder how far proofreading can go! :)
Karl Staib - Your Work Happiness Matters
August 5th, 2008 1:02 pm
About 2 hours. 1/2 hour to research. 1 hour to write the blog. Another 1/2 hour to edit.
It takes a good while for me. Writing doesn’t come naturally so I work hard at getting my thoughts down clearly and with excitement.
Winning Startups
August 5th, 2008 1:22 pm
My husband has a huge talent for writing fast, like he can write an awesome poem that would make one cry in less than ten minutes. I’m not as talented and it takes me about a half hour to write a post, plus I spend some time researching for the article. I like to write my posts in advance so I am not under pressure to write an article just to write it, so it’s difficult to judge how much time I spend researching, maybe 15 minutes to a half hour an article.
Marye
August 5th, 2008 2:30 pm
Some days I sit down a crank out a post in a matter of minutes (meaning less than 90 real time minutes). Other times I work on a post over several sittings grabbing 30 minute here and 45 there. I generally post about being a hippie-want-a-be living in Arkansas’ version of suburbia, trying to homeschool my kids save the environment while raising chickens and a small family garden. How’s that for a concise, to-the-point answer?
–
Marye~
Sanjo-chan
August 5th, 2008 3:22 pm
I’ve found myself on a roll lately when I write a post. It will take me, on average, 30 minutes to write one, or an hour if it’s a very detailed post. Sometimes, it will take me a couple of days to write one if it’s not really important or if it needs more details.
Elizabeth Barrette
August 5th, 2008 3:24 pm
My *average* is probably about 10 minutes. Most of my posts fall into three categories: relay (sharing cool newsbits, usually with a personal comment), report (updates on where to find my writing, etc.), and creative (short essays on interesting topics). The first two categories typically take me less than 5 minutes; the creative category can take 15-20 minutes.
I typically write a blog post in one sitting. Longer ones may require a stretch break before I finish them.
Atniz
August 5th, 2008 5:41 pm
Took about 30 mins.
Mostly, write about my experience towards blogging, traffics, SEO, money, etc.
John Young | We Have Contact
August 6th, 2008 1:15 am
I would say between 30 minutes to an hour. Most of my postings are commentary so I do a lot of “shoot from the hip” writing and then go back and edit after the fact.
emdoozie
August 6th, 2008 4:31 am
I generally take an hour or so to publish a post through to completion. That includes searching for an image to go along with my post as well as editing. I generally have to read it over and over again to catch all my silly grammatical errors. Most range in a couple paragraphs, but what takes me the longest is positioning images and going back and forth about formatting.
Most are mostly inspirational at most. I try to inspire my readers to go after their dreams and not give up on their goals. So I often write about the things I dream about and give motivational tips to keep my readers focused and motivated to change their lives.
Jeff Carter
August 6th, 2008 7:20 am
I write for two blogs, one that is live now and another that I am developing a back-blog for (say, of maybe 20) before I go live. The first is more intuitive and takes maybe 30 minutes. The second, though, is very technical science, philosophy and theology. It requires a lot of reading and research. I’d say the average is about 2-3 hours per blog.
Wes
August 6th, 2008 7:24 am
If I’ve got a topic to write about, it’ll take me about 15 min to a half an hour. If I cant think of anything off the top of my head it can take painstakingly long, sometimes an hour or two.
Elizabeth
August 6th, 2008 12:03 pm
I’d say on average 2 hours. If I am posting a weekly meme, I can do it in 1/2 an hour, something that requires research takes more time. I like to have many images to hold readers’ attention, and a variety of outside links. I also like to go in and add “target=”_blank” to all of my outside links, but that only takes about a minute. I’m very compulsive about how the post looks, varying font colors for certain things, etc. I could be faster if I wanted to!
J. Ross
August 6th, 2008 12:11 pm
It generally takes between 1.5 – 3 hours depending on the topic. This includes editing which I do on a different day. Total time would be those mentioned.
Kaillif
August 6th, 2008 6:38 pm
30 minutes a post, work about 3 hours a day. About 20 minutes spent on reading articles on the subject.
Kenya Holidays
August 7th, 2008 12:25 am
I have 2 business blogs for our Nile Cruise website and our Kenya Holidays website, as we are online travel agents. I try to post each day if possible. I try and blog without being too blatantly commercial. So I try and add posts that are of interest rather than lists of special offers. The most time-consuming part of posting is thinking up or finding interestin, “non-commercial” ideas. Somedays – no problem. Others – wow – it can make my brain ache!!
Chris Thomson
August 7th, 2008 3:15 am
For me it depends on the topic and the blog I’m writing for. For example, if I’m blogging for my personal blog, it’s because it’s something I just want to get out there fast. I’ll edit, but it’s easier to get my thoughts on the topic down faster if it’s something I really want to write about at the time. For my personal blog, it takes about 30 minutes – 1.5 hours, depending on how long the post is. For the other places I write for, 0.5-3 hours depending on the length.
Jeff
August 7th, 2008 6:03 am
It doesn’t take me very long at all. Either side of 20 minutes.
But this is because my 2 blogs are based around topics that are easy to write ‘about’.
My soda blog (www.SodaIsGood.blogspot.com) is mostly musing and opinion on soda-related things.
My ’social responsibility’ blog (www.ShopForTheGood.blogspot.com) was designed to capsule companies that are worth doing business with. While it’s a ‘deeper’ topic, most of the info is taken from the subject’s own website…so it’s already 1/2-way edited.
Michael Graves
August 7th, 2008 1:34 pm
The actually writing of the past usually takes 30-60 minutes. The research effort, or project underlying the writing can take days or even weeks. I tend to write about tech topics from a DIY/SOHO perspective. Usually documenting my own experience using some technique or technology.
German Romance
August 7th, 2008 6:44 pm
At least 2 hours, English is not my native language so it goes slowly when i am writing, I proof read it in Word Document to get the grammar better.
Hillel
August 8th, 2008 5:19 am
About a half hour. I spend lots of time thinking about what I will write before I actually sit down to write
Shaun Carter
August 8th, 2008 7:48 am
As with the others who commented, my posts generally start out at five minutes but can drag on for many hours depending on the content and research involved.
Patricia
August 8th, 2008 11:40 am
I write my post while swimming my mile or walking my 6 miles, or while I am working the apple trees, the flower garden,cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and in between phone calls and emails from workshop folks – in my head. I have paper and pen with me at all times. I have done the research in the time after I write for the next day. I start typing at 11 am every morning and usually revisit what I write before sending on to my web genius to post. I watch or read about 7 news sessions 5 days a week and read about 2 hours a day. My shortest post took me the mosts rewrites as I really wanted to convey something specific. I am trying today to work longer because I have an offer of a chair at the beach for Saturday and Sunday. I don’t think I can be more precise than this right now. I do love to read that some folks work one day a week for 6 figure incomes, but I don’t think that is my style or my best effort.
Keral Patel
August 8th, 2008 8:24 pm
When a thought does comes to my mind it is only around 5 mins or so to write a blog post. And if I have to write one compulsorily :( It takes 1 or 2 hours.
Cherrye at My Bella Vita
August 8th, 2008 10:52 pm
I am so glad you asked this question…I thought I was slower than the norm. It takes me at least an hour to write a post, edit it, post it, add pics, etc. It can take 2-3 if I have to research a lot. I write about Italy, travel tips and running a B&B, except when I don’t! ;-)
Raavi | Social Media
August 8th, 2008 11:34 pm
Usually take too much to write and proof read the posts, 4 to 5 hours, or less, depend the documentation for article… because of that I write very rare an article :)
Pawlu
August 9th, 2008 1:32 am
Normally, whenever I get an idea about something to write I jot it down in a notebook (old fashioned I know, but it works for me) so that in time I’ve built a whole database of ideas about what to write. Updating that usually takes a couple of minutes but save up plenty of time trying to think what to write later on, especially if you’re being rushed.
As for the actual writing, that normally takes about an hour which includes research and re-reading the post in order to see that it ‘feels’ right. To that add a further ten minutes getting the right image and actually uploading.
Like a couple of other posters on here I write about running (www.maltaathletics.blogspot.com) but think that I’m the only one to write about football / soccer (www.aliverpoolthing.blogspot.com and http://www.ilrecalcio.blogspot.com)
samantha
August 9th, 2008 2:24 am
first time commenting here, after reading for several years!!
i’m not a pro-blogger perse, i do more of a personal diary with photos and humor. so for me, it seems to come in a rush. like when i want to say something, but shouldn’t, i’ll snap a photo, do some photoshoping and publish. so maybe 1/2 hour. but, more and more i’ve been using the blog as a platform to get things off my chest. i can work on an article all day if that’s the case.
a quick thank you to you, darren. you’ve been very helpful.
Yanto
August 9th, 2008 4:39 am
Usually I will take about 15-30 minutes to finish a post. Perhaps my blog is too simple. And also I don’t usually write very long post. What I usually have to do is to take the screenshot of a program or a site, then add to the post. But when I take the photos with my digital camera, I sometimes have to edit the photos. But, the editing usually means adjusting the brightness, contrast, saturation and cropping the photos only.
Daniel Bates
August 9th, 2008 5:38 am
I’ve got hundreds of half written articles that just need a little work, but most articles that I crank out at once take 2-3 hours. Add another hour on average for photos (actually taking and editing) and researching. Never under an hour, often 5 or more.
Jen @ JenuineJen
August 9th, 2008 6:34 am
It depends on the subject of the post. If it is strictly a “mommy” post about my family or life as a mother it takes about 30 minutes to an hour. This is to get my thoughts down, find and edit an appropriate photo, and proofing the post. Most of my posts are of the shorter variety.
About once or twice a month, I post a longer, well-researched post. These posts require research (for example one for free summer movies in my area), it can take 8 – 12 hours to do all the research, put it in an appealing format, and proofing the post. The posts that require massive research are the ones that get searched on the most and I have the highest page views on. While they take much longer to put together, they are worth the time and effort involved.
Doug C.
August 9th, 2008 11:23 am
I usually post whenever an idea strikes me. I’ll spend some time writing it, usually anywhere from ten minutes to a couple days, depending on what the subject is. The hardest posts for me to write are those that I feel other people will find interesting. I’ve purposely steered clear of the cliche posts – lists, top tens, etc. – because I don’t feel that would fit well on my blog. It would be like adding a bunch of link buttons simply because someone else does it. On the other hand however, if the idea has merit and is in line with what my blog is about then I would probably take advantage of it. I did this when I figured out how to add background images to my post titles. I figured others might benefit from this, since it took me a few days to figure out.
alex mclean
August 10th, 2008 3:48 pm
mine vary. when I am just posting something fun it can be as quick as 10 minutes. when I am posting something that is meaningful and deeper it can take me around an hour. some posts have a lifespan of days as I write, save as a draft, come back to it in a couple days and finish it.
I’d say my average is about a half hour.
Ryan Walker
August 12th, 2008 1:33 pm
I am glad that this question was raised as I had searched the problogger site in the past trying to find some information on the time other people spent writing a blog post.
Some of my posts (300-500 words) have taken me approx. 2 hours, and I was starting to have concerns about my productivity! However, after reading some of the experiences from others in the comments above – I now feel better. :)
At the moment, in an attempt to improve my blog posting speed I am trying to educate myself on style and grammar (a back to school approach) and at the same time trying to understand better some of the linguistics based research on sentence construction and communication.
Sarah
August 13th, 2008 1:40 am
2 hours for me as well! I am hoping I get faster as I write more. Even though my information is factual, it sometimes takes time communicate it in an organized way!
Rachel
August 13th, 2008 8:29 am
It takes me about an hour for a short post. Long essay-type posts take me 2-3 days. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who takes so long!
Andrew Z.
August 14th, 2008 11:16 pm
4 hours to 4 weeks
Julian Simpson
August 19th, 2008 3:31 am
It takes me at least an hour to write a technical post with code samples, CC licensed photo from flickr, etc. Easily more some days.
Greek News
August 20th, 2008 9:46 pm
2 hours for a full Post and 1 Hour for survey
Helmi Asyraf Abdullah
August 22nd, 2008 7:00 am
yah agree with Greek…i will definitely take 2 hours for each post…
adam
August 25th, 2008 2:01 pm
It really depends if it’s technical, historical or just from my head.
I’ve got a note pad which I carry with me because I get a lot of ideas when I am walking about, just relaxing. So this speeds things up for me, as well as lots of information I have collected over the years, and all are filed for me to pick easily on any subject.
1 minute to find more references and info. Sometimes longer if I haven’t got the info. Let’s say an hour.
Then another 10 minutes to write it (fast at typing).
Another half hour to refine it. And I might go back to refine more.
iPhoneGeek
September 4th, 2008 4:09 pm
Usually 1 hour per post. Although i don’t write big post, but i don’t whenever i start compiling a post, the time flies away like anything.
Tom
September 6th, 2008 11:39 am
It takes me about 2 – 4 hours to write a good post including research and proofreading, but I’m trying to reduce that time by writing more often. I try to write at least 1 article per week.
piotr
October 6th, 2008 7:47 am
aint easy to say. from 15′ to one and a half hour, or even more. I AM LOOKING FOR A TOOL THAT CAN MESURE how many letters I am able to write in a period of time. I figure a add-on to Ms-Word or OpenOffice would be usefull. The chronometer could count the time we are working on a document and give us the ratio letters/time. With such a tool it would be easier to know the average time it takes to write a blog post.
Carrie
January 24th, 2009 8:56 am
About an hour per blog. I usually take one day a week and write them all, upload the photos, link it.
I’m always looking for ways to improve my sphere of influence via my blog. Thanks for your articles. Enjoyed them. And will continute too.
Bruce Ziebarth
May 19th, 2009 12:07 am
The actual post takes about thirty minutes. Collecting my ideas is a daily task. I keep a journal on my desk and carry a small notebook with me. I write down any blog ideas that come to me with three or four bullet points. When I sit down to write, I go back through these notes.
I find that this has helped my creativity. My mind is free to think up new ideas because it knows that my other ideas have been recorded. I cannot say that this is my original idea. It came from an Effective Writing class I took in college.
Cyndi
May 21st, 2009 7:36 am
It takes me anywhere from 40 minutes to a couple of hours – depending upon the content and my ability to stay “in the zone”
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