Stephen King’s Guide to Consistent Writing
“How the f*ck do you write so many books so fast?”
Stephen King is a genius writer. He has been writing for a really long time and his works managed to reach the big screen, which made even more hits for him.
About two years ago, he and George R.R. Martin had a conversation with each other about consistent writing.
Now, for anyone who has read The Song of Ice and Fire, George has not even finished the books. His last book from the series is A Dance With Dragons, and it stopped with a cliffhanger there since 2011. Now that the T.V. series caught up way ahead from the books, George knew he had to be serious, especially since the last season was a big letdown, which was why he asked this to Stephen King.
His answer is very simple and straightforward, and I think this is something we can take away as well. For writers, this is one that we can take to make this writing business ongoing, especially in the outbreak we are experiencing — we can have more time to write.
If you are not a writer and you are reading this, it’s okay. You can still interpret this in your own ways and can still help you.
Based on the conversation, below is his answer on how he was able to write so many books in a span of time. So, here goes:
Set a Goal
I try to get six pages a day. So with a book like End of Watch, when I’m working, I work everyday. 3–4 hours, and I try to get those six pages and I try to get them fairly clean. So if the manuscript is, let’s say, 360 pages long, that’s basically two months work. It’s concentrated but it’s a fairly…but that’s assuming that it goes well. — Stephen King, 2018
As you can see here, he has a target every single day. Six pages a day. He was committed to finishing at least six pages a day in a span of three to four hours.
We can set a target of at least 600 words a day, depending on how it suits you — try 500 words every single day.
The benefit of writing every day is that you are practicing every day, as well.
If Stephen writes every day, that means he is practicing daily. It is no wonder that he was able to finish so many books and at the same time practice his writing quality.
Overcoming Writer’s Block
George asked this to Stephen:
You don’t ever have a day where you sit down there and it’s like constipation? You wonder if you had any talent, after all? Don’t you have days like that?
He did have those days, but it was the days when he thought that he could never publish anything.
There was a time that he had a long time of writer’s block because he was abusing himself. He was taking drugs and kept drinking alcohol to the point that he hit rock bottom. His wife is not letting him self-destruct again. She dug up the trash where he threw his own writing and warned him that if he won’t finish the work he loves, she was going to leave him.
Eventually, this warning did help him to wake back the creative part of him slowly. His wife helped him to write again until he could finally pick himself up again and eventually, it became a habit and a daily routine.
So to answer George's question, Stephen’s answer was still the same. Get six pages done. He just writes every day and ensures that he hits the target of six pages a day. Thanks to his wife, this daily routine awakened in him, leading to my final point.
Get Help
Though he didn’t mention it in the conversation with George, I found that Stephen got so much help from his wife (just as I discussed above). I’m not saying that you really need someone to whip your butt so that you can start writing, everyone handles the situation differently.
But the best way to put you in the mood is when you surround yourself with people who support you. For Stephen, it is such a blessing that he married a woman who encouraged him to write even when he thought his writing was terrible.
We are fortunate to live in an era where we can connect with people all over the world. So, join a community, ask questions on how to improve your writings. It will motivate you to write some more. I know, because I did.
The Takeaway
His answer is pretty much making a routine. He had hit rock bottom before he could be this successful. I’m not telling you that you should hit rock bottom as well, but we can learn from Stephen on how he writes consistently:
- Set a goal,
- Keep writing, and
- Get help.
Stephen did this for a long long time, and even in his 70s, he was still able to publish new books. Even his kids are following in his footsteps.
If you like this article, be sure to follow me for more and go ahead subscribe to my newsletter to be the first to see the articles.
