

In my experience, I’ve found that most (but not all) senior pastors that are extroverts on the Myers-Briggs write first, then edit later. Most introverts will create an outline, then fill in the blanks.
FYI: I would encourage you to take the Myers-Briggs test HERE. Once you get your results purchase John K. DiTiberio’s book, Writing and Personality: Finding Your Voice, Your Style, Your Way. It will give you a detailed path for maximizing your individualized writing process according to your personality temperament.
5. Structure Your Time to Write in Three Distinct 90-Minute Spurts
Regardless of how you do it, your brain is not designed to stay focused for longer than 60 to 90 minutes. It’s too taxing. Envision your five-hour writing block in three distinct segments.
How “Write First, Edit Later” Preachers Structure Their Writing Spurts
Spend your first 90 minutes in one mad dash of writing. Just write. Get your ideas on paper. Don’t worry about how they sound, whether they are grammatically correct, or if they make sense. Just write. Envision your task the way professional painters paint high-end homes: a first coat, followed by a second and finished with trim work. In this first 90-minute spurt you’re just trying to cover the wall with paint. Get it all out of your head and into your Word file.
Then get up. Walk around. Take a break for 10 minutes. Then go back for a second round.
Spend the next 90 minutes reading what you wrote, identifying the larger structure to the message, then going back and re-writing it a second time. Now you “know” what your sermon is about, what you liked and didn’t, etc. As much as you balk at the idea of rewriting what you just wrote, force yourself to do it anyway. This is your second coat of paint.
Then take a break, eat your mid-morning meal, stretch and clear your head.
Finally, sit back down and tell yourself that you have 90 minutes to bring it home. Tell yourself that what you’re writing right now is what you’re taking on the stage. Picture the people to whom you will be preaching. Feel their pain. Imagine the unspoken hurts they carry. Then go back to that second draft and edit it like Ernest Hemingway on cocaine. Attack it. Don’t hold back. This is where you’re applying the trim upon two pretty good layers of paint. This is the point where amateur painters and preachers call it a day.
How “Edit As You Write” Preachers Structure Their Writing Spurts
Spend the first 90 minutes brainstorming and then writing down all your ideas. Once you feel like you have all the “pulp” you’ll need to work with, arrange the material into an outline. Now turn your attention to the introduction. You want to try to finish crafting your outline and introduction by the end of your first 90-minute segment.
Then get up. Walk around. Take a break for 10 minutes. Then go back for a second round.
Spend the next 90 minutes starting at the beginning and writing as you go and “filling in the blanks” where needed. I have a predetermined list of sermon “pieces” that I want to include in every message: a spiritual classic quote, two to three unique insights from the biblical text, and one humorous personal story. I make sure I have those components in place as I write. I’ve found I can get through 2/3 of the message in this second round.