Stephen King has published over 60 novels and 200 short stories.
Most writers struggle to finish one book in their lifetime. King finishes one every few months and has done so for decades.
He doesn’t seem ready to quit by any stretch.
So what’s going on?
After studying his methods, particularly his book ‘On Writing’ and various interviews, I’ve identified eleven principles that separate King from the struggling masses.
He obviously possesses talent, but that’s only a small part of the equation. He treats writing like a true craft that benefits the most from discipline rather than inspiration.
Let’s dig in:
1. He writes every single day (including his birthday).
King writes 365 days a year.
That’s not most days. That’s every damn day.
He starts between 8:00 and 8:30 am and writes until he hits his target. In the context of hitting his writing goals, holidays and bad moods simply do not exist.
This matters because, just as with training muscles, your mental muscles start to atrophy if you stop using them.
King himself said: ‘If I don’t write every day, the characters begin to stale off in my mind. They begin to seem like characters instead of real people.’
Commit to a daily practice, even if it’s just 15 minutes. The consistency matters more than the volume. Your brain needs to get a feel for regular writing, or it will not reward you with the necessary insight.
2. He built up to 2,000 words.
King aims for roughly 2,000 words per day.
That’s about ten pages. But he didn’t wake up one morning and start smashing out 2,000 words. He built up to this over years of practice and momentum-building.
You can start smaller. Have an ultimate goal of 1000–2000 per day. That’s how you make a real difference in writing.
No amount of writing is too much. You have income to generate, people who need your words, and a legacy to build.
Set a realistic daily word count based on your current progress. Track it. Hit it. Then slowly increase as you become more familiar with pounding keys.
3. He uses a ‘self-hypnosis’ ritual to trigger writing mode.
King does the same things every day before writing.
He has a writing seat at the same desk. He’ll drink the same cup of tea and take the same vitamin pill. He arranges his room in the same way every day.
He says: ‘The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon.’
Most writers sit down and immediately fight resistance. Their brain hasn’t been cued that it’s time to write. There’s no signal.
King’s ritual is a form of self-hypnosis, like a kind of Pavlovian conditioning. His mind knows that when these specific actions happen in this specific order, creativity follows.
4. He treats writing like an athlete treats training.
Most people think writing is about sitting around waiting for an insight to float in through the window.
King treats it like an athlete treats training.
He writes with momentum, and the work stays fresh when velocity is maintained.
This is why King pushes to finish a first draft within three months. Any longer and the characters in his books lose their vivacity.
In your case, once you’ve built your consistency habit, set a deadline for everything you write, and make it feel like a push.
5. He prepares mentally by accepting that some days will be terrible.
King is refreshingly honest about how sometimes writing feels like shovelling excrement from a sitting position.
Those are his words.
But he writes anyway.
Most writers quit the moment writing stops being fun. They think something’s wrong. They assume they’re just not cut out for it.
King knows better. Some days the words flow. Other days, they don’t. The quality of the session doesn’t determine whether you continue to show up or not.
This mental shift is crucial. You’re not writing because you’re inspired. You’re writing because it’s Tuesday, and that’s what happens on Tuesdays.
Expect resistance. Don’t interpret these moments as a reason to stop. Show up anyway and write badly if you must.
You can fix bad writing. You can’t do a whole lot with a blank page and an empty bag of Doritos.
6. He reads 70–80 books per year (and carries one everywhere).
King reads constantly.
Between 70 and 80 books every year. That’s roughly 1.5 books per week.
I can’t tell you how much this fires me up to read more.
He carries a book everywhere, including in waiting rooms, in airport lounges and on his lunch breaks. Any dead time becomes reading time.
King floods his mind with fresh ideas and perspectives, and he constantly writes, fueling his own words and keeping him enthusiastic and inspired.
Reading teaches you rhythm, structure, dialogue, and pacing. It shows you what works and what doesn’t. It fills your creative well.
So read every single day. Stop making it a ‘nice to have.’ If you’re a writer, you’re an avid reader too, because you study your craft and take the damn thing seriously.
If you write non-fiction, reading fiction still matters, in my view.
7. He finishes what he starts (even when it’s hard).
King has a rule that says he must finish the draft or abandon the project entirely.
He doesn’t allow half-finished manuscripts to sit in drawers.
Either he completes it or kills it.
This seems full on, but it’s practical.
Most writers have a graveyard of unfinished work. Each abandoned project carries guilt and saps confidence.
You see all these half-finished pieces and start believing you’re someone who doesn’t finish things.
King knows that finishing is a muscle. The more projects you complete, the easier completion becomes. Each finished draft proves to your brain that you’re capable.
Commit to finishing your current project before starting anything new.
Even if you hate it halfway through. See it to the end.
Most articles and every book I’ve written were peppered with despairing moments like these.
8. He eliminates every possible distraction from his writing space.
King’s writing room is a fortress against distraction.
There’s no television, phone, or video games in there. No Internet. If there’s a window, the curtains are drawn unless it faces a blank wall.
This is about respecting the difficulty of the work.
Writing requires you to go inward. To enter a sustained dream state.
Being ruthlessly intolerant of distraction honours this.
9. He lets manuscripts rest before editing them.
After King finishes a first draft, he locks it in a drawer for at least six weeks.
He doesn’t look at it and doesn’t think about it.
He moves on to something else. This gives him distance and time, which creates objectivity.
After six weeks, you return to your manuscript as a stranger. Flaws become obvious. Strengths reveal themselves, and you can finally edit effectively.
10. He writes for one person (his ideal reader).
King writes every story with a specific reader in mind.
For him, it’s his wife Tabitha. She’s his first reader and the person whose opinion matters most.
When you write for ‘everyone,’ you write for no one. The work becomes generic, safe and forgettable.
But when you write for one specific person, the work gains intentionality, which gives it personality. It has a voice. It takes risks because you know your reader will appreciate them.
11. He remembers that the muse is unreliable.
King says that inspiration exists, but it’s not your friend.
The muse is unreliable. She shows up when she wants. You can’t build a career waiting for her.
Instead, you train her. I love this idea.
You show up every day at the same time in the same place doing the same ritual. Eventually, the muse learns where to find you.
When you stop waiting and start doing, the muse has no choice but to keep pace.
Stephen King’s productivity isn’t a mystery.
It’s not about talent or luck or some magical ability. It’s about showing up consistently, building sustainable habits gradually, treating the craft like work rather than a hobby, and refusing to quit when it gets difficult.
How might you bring some of what we learn from King into your own work, whether non-fiction or fiction?
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Alex
I keep his quote, “You must not come lightly to the blank page,” taped to the lower corner of my computer monitor.
My biggest problem is that I tend to my family before anything else — which clobbers routine.