Wow. The task of attempting such a feat, to do as one of the most influential writers practised- their writing routine. That’s a big wall for a first time writer. An undertaking that I will learn a lot from.
Table of Contents
This week’s challenge: Replicating The Daily Writing Routine Of Stephen King.
In his own words, he indicates:
“I have a glass of water or a cup of tea. There’s a certain time I sit down, from 8:00 to 8:30, somewhere within that half hour every morning,” he explained. “I have my vitamin pill and my music, sit in the same seat, and the papers are all arranged in the same places…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.”
Here’s the thing, okay? There are books, and there are books. The way that I work, I try to get out there and I try to get six pages a day. So, with a book like End of Watch, and … when I’m working I work every day — three, four 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. … But that’s assuming it goes well.
“Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King” by Lisa Rogak,
These two quotes give us Stephen King’s writing routine. If you’re wondering how many words would equate to 6 pages. A good rule of thumb is 500 words per page. But let’s get technical.
Number of pages | Number of words (single spaced) | Number of words (double spaced) |
1 | 500 | 250 |
2 | 1000 | 500 |
3 | 1500 | 750 |
4 | 2000 | 1000 |
5 | 2500 | 1250 |
6 | 3000 | 1500 |
Did Stephen King use double space?
“Type. Double-space. Use a nice heavy white paper, never that erasable onion-skin stuff. If you’ve marked up your manuscript a lot, do another draft.”
“Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully- in Ten Minutes” by Stephen King
Yes, he most defiantly did. Now to achieve kick-ass quality 1,500 words in 3-4 hours.
Taking On The Challenge
Day One
I got up at 8 and had started writing by 8:30. Coffee at the standby (cannot stand hot tea). Notebook beside the laptop, it was time to start. I knew there would be many mistakes and some would hide from me. So before I typed a single sentence, I knew I needed Grammarly onside to keep my mistake at bay.
Now, with way more time focusing on the content rather than asking myself ‘does this make sense?’ I thought less about what my spelling and grammar were like. I could revisit them at any time while the bizarre words colourfully stood out. With a partner in crime suggesting how I could better explain my ideas.
There were scenes yet to finish in my idea pool, so I started with that task.
However, working with music is quite distracting and the words from the songs would at times sweep away the thoughts I had for writing my story. At times it felt like I was juggling ignoring the music, trying to gain inspiration from them and continuing the book. There were blissful times I was so engulfed by my writing that I could not hear the music at all.
In 3 hours I had written 1,251. Not 1,500 yet, stopping after this felt good. I had written a large amount and would easily be able to pick up the rhythm the next day as I already had ideas of what I would write next. I did not want to ruin my muse and struggle too much the next day with this new routine.
Day Two
The hot drink first thing in the morning is odd to me as I don’t drink hot beverages often. Though, I welcome the warmth it offers my cold hands.
Today started off well… And then I battled to figure out how I wanted the story to progress. Yes, I have a plan in how the story flows but not all the details that occur in between.
By the end of 3 hours, I had squeezed out 1,000 words and decided that was good enough. Overcoming a writers’ block in under an hour had been an accomplishment enough for me. It was time for a break.
Half an hour had passed and I was ready to go for round two. Ideas tumbled against each other while I was meant to be “resting”, the usual occurrence. In 40 minutes I had proudly brought forth the next 500 words.
Day Three
Compelled to get 1,500 today. I drank the coffee in one go. Then planned each scene I thought I could cram in. With details of what is to happen, how and its reasoning. Smashing the goal by 1,600 I felt amazed I wrote so much in 3 hours. Like day 1, I could have kept going but, I need to leave some juice in the tank for tomorrow.
Also in this session, I had exchanged the wordy music for “concentration music”. For example, classical music and gentle rhythms.
Much better. I had used this kind of music before when studying, it is proven to aid relaxation, concentration and learning.
Day Four
Continuing my planning process from yesterday, I made it just in time for 1,500 words. At the second hour, I had slowed down considerably and needing to gather ideas of how to execute what happens to lead to the end result.
A convincing plotline came to mind eventually and I rolled with it until it was fully developed.
Well, until it gave me 1,500 words.
Truth be told I wasn’t feeling the best in myself and did not want to write today. The thing is, once the flow gets started, I am golden. It is the process of beginning that is the difficult part for me.
So, moving my body before my brain can protest is the key to progress. Utilizing the 5-second rule.
Day Five
This felt more of a breeze than other days, I had gotten into the routine that guides me to accomplish over 1,000 words.
Almost forgetting the coffee, I sat down at my desk ready to get through the 3-4 hours.
Everything sitting in its place. Diligently working away with my writing tools: ideas for the scene, details for that scene, character personalities/plots, concentrating music and reverting back to the original idea as to always keep in it mind.
My final day was over for this challenge
Results
Well… That was tough. My habit of trying to write 600 words every weekday greatly help me this time. The task of creating the next part out of nothing was a little less daunting through my practice.
Prevailing through effort and hard work, motivation coming after the hard bit is done.
In my case, my writing process is like a river, thoughts/scenarios are made one word at a time that comes streaming out of my mind. Writing a few words lets my mind wanders until coherent words can be produced.
I feel like I would have concentrated a lot of time on editing and re-editing if it had not have been for Grammarly, grateful it was around to help out.
Having the ups and down with creativity has enabled me to gain a game plan to help me get over the hump. Sticking to that amount of words per day is not what I will be taking away from this week. Unless deadlines right?
Creating a routine helps you get into the headspace for writing. That’s what I think Stephen King is conveying.
There is no singular style that fits all but altering writing routines to make it work for you, yeah, that sounds about right.
Let me know what you think and your experience with writing routines. What is your process of writing? Have you tried other writers routines? Until next time
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