I tried Stephen King’s writing routine for 30 days — here’s 5 lessons I learned.
(Spoiler alert… he’s good)
Stephen King is undoubtedly one of the goats to grace the writing world.
Throughout his 63 novels, 120 short stories, 20 novellas and five non-fiction books; King has demonstrated his unrivalled ability to rapidly churn out new content on a consistent basis, whilst still maintaining quality to the highest degree.
And for any aspiring writer, this kind of production is what we can only dream of.
But is Stephen King, like a lot of his characters, just some psychotic freak — one who possesses an unreachable God-given talent for writing?
Or… could we all replicate King’s levels of production with the right routine?
Well…
I tried Stephen King’s writing routine for 30 days; here’s what I learned.
#1 — Small targets produce Big results
When writing a longer form of content, I always struggled to stay motivated.
The thing is, it can seem daunting to create a whole piece of work — especially for newer writers.
That’s why Stephen King breaks his goals down into small actionable steps; to ensure he can stay on track, whilst also not becoming overwhelmed by the big goal.
“I like to get ten pages a day, 2000 words. That’s 180000 words over 3 months.”
Consistency. Consistency. Consistency — This is the key to Stephen King’s longevity.
Set the bar low at first, then gradually raise the targets as your writing becomes easier.
#2 — Your Writing Room changes everything
Despite King’s multi-million net worth, he still sticks by this one rule for his writing room.
“The only requirement is a door you are willing to shut.”
The closed door is your way of telling the world and yourself that you’re locked in — and it will save you days of planning. I’ll explain later…
By the time you step into your writing room, you should know your daily writing goal.
And that’s really it.
Two of King’s most renowned works, Carrie and Salems lot, were written in the laundry room of a doublewide trailer!
As I write this, I’m sat at my fold-away desk in the corner of my bedroom — with just about enough room to stretch my legs out. But most importantly, I have a door to close.
I’m locked in.
#3 — Your perception of writing changes the message it portrays
It’s not just your physical environment; your mental environment drastically changes the effect of your writing on the reader.
Stephen King’s philosophy about writing transformed my writing process — and it’s pretty simple.
“Writing is Telepathy.”
You what?
Here’s a table covered with a red cloth. On it is a cage the size of a small fish aquarium. In the cage is a white rabbit with a pink nose and pink-rimmed eyes. In it’s front paws is a carrot-stub upon which it is contentedly munching. On its back, clearly marked in blue ink, is the numeral 8.
What are you thinking of?
This description paints the picture in your head; but the chances are, our mental image’s all still differ slightly. The only thing that is concrete, is the blue number ‘8’. What does it mean? I don’t know. But now I want to find out.
The most important takeaway is this: allow your reader to imagine.
Create a clear image for your reader. Feel the image you have created. Most importantly, do it seriously and with complete presence.
With this mindset, your writing will resonate like never before.
Above all else, writing is the most powerful communication tool we have.
#4 — There’s a solution to writers block
Throughout my decades of writing, I’ve always struggled with putting the first words onto the page — costing me days I’ll never get back.
But luckily Stephen King has taught me I don’t need to waste time procrastinating about the perfect introduction.
Remember that closed door?
There’s a reason King lives by it.
The solution is to have the freedom of two drafts.
“One you write with the door closed, the other with the door open.”
Door closed: Block out all distractions and just write — don’t let your conscious mind stop you to think, just write anything and everything that comes to your mind. The hardest part is always starting; once the first words are on the page, you have something to build upon. And Remember, this is the first draft for a reason. Put this away for a day or two, then come back to this with an open mind — you need this time away to give you a fresh perspective when you come back.
Door open: Allow a trusted person to read your work and provide you with feedback. Then, use this feedback along with your open minded view to implement improvements— it’s in this second draft that you optimise and fine-tune your creation, in order to meet your desired goal for the writing.
#5 — It’s easy to get better than the rest
From when I first started this routine 30 days ago, to now, my ability to create written content efficiently and effectively has sky rocketed.
Not only do I find myself thinking less and writing more, the quality of my work has undergone serious improvements.
And it all comes down to King’s simple formula on how to improve.
“Read alot and Write alot.”
It really is that simple — yet so often overlooked.
King writes 2000 words a day, I started with 100 — significantly different scales, yet the results were consistent. Then bit by bit, over the span of weeks, I increased the amount of words I was reading and writing.
The truth is, we all want the quick results — but I’ve learned that it’s not about short bursts of intense discipline for a few weeks, it’s about the longer commitment to small amounts of reading and writing every day.
Make your writing work around your life, not your life work around your writing.
Consistency beats intensity, every time.
Who’s Alex?
I’m a Creative and Professional Writing Undergraduate — sharing actionable advice to help you level up!
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