Batch Writing: How to Streamline Your Freelance Writing Process in 2024

When you’re writing lots of different articles, blog posts, sales copy, or any other type of piece for your clients, there are a couple of ways you can approach this:

1. Pick a piece and go through each stage of the writing process (from idea to ready-to-publish), step by step.
2. Progress a bunch of pieces at a single stage: pitching multiple ideas on one day, outlining them another day, and so on.

A few years back, I wrote about batch writing for Craft Your Content in the context of your own blog or newsletter … but this is a technique you can use for freelancing too, especially if you tend to produce multiple pieces that follow a similar format.

You don’t need to batch every single stage, but even if you batch some tasks together, it can make you more efficient – and more likely to stay on track.

How I Batch-Write My Freelance Pieces

Batch writing has worked really well for me for some of my freelancing clients, where I produce both outlines and completed projects.

With one of my current clients, I typically “batch” 4+ outlines in one go, get those approved, then draft the posts. It’s obviously a much quicker process than writing a single outline then waiting for that to be approved, as my client generally works through approving them in batches too. Plus, it’s easier for me to get into the zone and work fast!

On an admin level, I also batch my invoices and create these for the previous month on the first working day of each month (even if some could potentially go out sooner).

With other clients in the past, I’ve also batched tasks like coming up with ideas, or I’ve drafted a bunch of short posts in one go before editing them all.

Ways to Batch Writing Tasks in Your Freelancing Process

In your own freelancing, you might be able to batch things together in one – or more! – of these ways:

• Write several pitches in a row. This can help you get into the pitching mindset or the idea-generating flow … and you may also be able to easily reuse some parts of your pitches (e.g. a sentence introducing yourself).
• Come up with several outlines for a client. This is particularly useful if your client will likely review a bunch of outlines at once, but it’s also helpful for spotting links between different pieces, or for using the same repeated format for your outlines.
• Draft multiple articles in one day. If you’re working on shortish freelance pieces, you might be able to draft three (or even more!) in a single day. This can be a great way to feel super-productive, and it also helps you to draw links between your articles or keep a series of pieces consistent.
• Write the introductions to several articles at once. Even if you don’t want to batch-draft your article, you might write three or four introductions in one sitting. Just having a starting point to return to can make it so much easier to work on the drafts in the future.
• Edit or proofread multiple articles at once. If you’re using specialist software (e.g. Surfer to optimize for SEO) when you edit, it might be most efficient to edit several pieces at once, when you have the software open. You may also find that at some times of day, it’s easier to focus on editing/proofreading rather than on more creative work.
• Handle admin tasks as a batch. I tend to batch client communication at the start and end of my work day: even if I finish multiple short pieces during the day, I’ll usually send them all in a single message at the end of the day. It’s more efficient for me and for my clients that way.

You don’t have to batch everything! With my current clients and workflow, most of my articles are 2,000+ words. At that length, I like to draft an article, edit it, then proofread and send it, before moving on to the next piece. But even batching a few tasks, like coming up with ideas or outlines, can help keep you moving smoothly through your freelance work.

If you’ve not tried batching your writing tasks like this, give it a go today. And if you’re already batching in some areas, see if there’s another type of batching you might want to experiment with, too.

Want More Help Freelancing?

Start Freelancing and Freelance Confidence are my two self-paced courses aimed at freelancers. If you’re new to freelancing, Start Freelancing will give you everything you need to know to get started making money from your writing … and if you’ve been freelancing for at least a few months, Freelance Confidence is designed to help you grow your business.