Credit where it’s due: Just got done reading Laura Spencer’s “Writing Thoughts vs. The Five Minute Article Writer.” It has me thinking a lot about article writing and what goes into writing a good article.

Can you write an article in five minutes? Me either. How about 30 minutes? Yes, sometimes. You see, I used to be a wedding writer. I worked for a wedding publication and wrote over 500 articles (over the course of a few years) for a wedding website. Though I know a little about weddings, I’m not an expert. There have been times when I wrote an “off the top of my head 300 word article” in about thirty minutes.

When people ask me if it’s true someone can really write two articles per hour, I say “yes, but it depends.”

It depends on:

• The topic
• The writer’s area of expertise
• The writer’s experience
• The amount of research
• The word count
• If interviews are needed

I can do a quick “how to choose a wedding veil” piece of web content in about 30 minutes. If I was to write about the wedding veil industry or changes in wedding veil trends including prices and designs, as well as interviews with wedding shop owners and wedding veil designers, this would take more of my time.  Writing an in depth piece would most likely take several days to produce.

As I don’t agree with the “Google and rewrite” method of writing, I might take longer than some people to write a good article. If I’m writing a blog post off the top of my head requiring no research, I can get it done in less than 30 minutes.

Talk to me, writers. How long does it REALLY take you to write an article?