Jenn and others who echoed the same viewpoint are correct. It's incredibly difficult to estimate how long it will take a writer to produce an article. If I am familiar with the subject matter and it's in my area of expertise, those articles will take less time than an article that will require extensive amounts of research, fact checking, etc.
I typically write 5 well researched 500 word articles in 2 hours. I'm lucky though as I have an extremely good memory. I make $20 per article right now but have only been averaging $200 a week as I'm a lazy bastard and sick to death of this particular topic. I spend maybe 3 hours a day typing and only every other day. I have 4 kids and a wife though plus a morning shift job just to get me away from them lol.
I write on subjects I know. Sometimes i do consulting calls and then write an article on the topic I just spoke about. After a call I can spit out 10 articles - 800+ words each - in a couple hours. Give me a subject I don't know, that means research. Research can take hours, do you include that in the article writing time?
I think it totally depends on the purpose and topic of the article. If I am knowledgeable in a topic, I can write extremely quickly - but if something is quite new to me it will take a little longer. Generally speaking, I can write the 400-500 words you mentioned in around 20 minutes. Hope this helps in some weird way...
If I'm motivated I can push out around a 300-400 word article in about 5-8 minutes. That's continuous writing on a subject I am very knowledgeable about. If I do not know much about it then I will struggle to keep my writing up and the time will get longer.
There are a lot of factors that affect one's speed when writing articles. Knowledge on the topic is a top consideration since you won't need to research as much compared to when you don't have any idea about the subject at hand. Motivation and focus also play important roles. Some people might think that it's fairly easy to churn out well-researched and decent articles in just an hour, but writers do need time to think...and breathe.
I really have to agree, it depends so much on the context. If you want an article on the financial market meltdown will affect the Real Estate Market I can do that very fast. A couple an hour. But then I know that market inside out and am current on it. Ask me to do a magazine quality 1000 word article on a subject I dont know and it may take days.
My writing speed is about 3 hours for a 400 words article, but it may vaies depends on the topic of my article.
Once research is done. Around 15 min to write a 400 word article. Around 10 - 20 min to the research.
for 400-500 word article about 30 minutes if in my comfort subjects/topics. If not, anywhere from 1 to 3 hrs.
If the following conditions are true: 1. I am well-versed on the subject, 2. I have all the materials that I need, 3. I'll use informal language Then I think I'll be able to write an article for each hour. The process only includes coming up with the outline. But then again, there are other factors such as editing, having lunch or dinner, resting my eyes and occasional trips to the bathroom.
You shouldn't base on time... sometimes quality just flows, and sometimes you need to research... if i'm writing detailed articles, i'll plan them, and then proof read twice... and that adds to the time... i mean i'm a fast writer, but human error exists and sometimes computers get it wrong... it varies with dedication
i agree with every other... it depends on the niche which is every writer is familiar about... having 1 article in 30 minutes is just fine. 1 - 2 articles per hour. for me i can write articles which i familiar about the topic for 30 minutes for 300 words.
English is not my own language and I can't write good articles at all. So my speed is not important. However,in my own language Turkish,I can easily write 500 words articles with 20 minutes if I know the concept much.
I'm probably at 90 - 100 words per minute. It all depends on whether I know the topic and if I'm interested in it. If I am then I am usually a little faster and will continue writing until it is done - put it aside for at least a couple of hours and then clean it up. So, if I was going to write say 10 articles I'd bulldoze through 5 of them with a large cup of coffee - have a break - and then get back on the rest. I'd probably take a morning on this though, from 8 - 12 ish. And then review later that day or the following morning. The more you write, the quicker you will be.