Stephen King's 60-Day Book Writing Formula

This exact formula is how King writers 360-page manuscripts in as little as two months.

Author

Brock Swinson
May 16, 2024

Is the secret to selling 400 million books simply writing 4 hours per day? According to horror icon Stephen King, that’s the linchpin.

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Story

Stephen King: Blood, Sweat and Ink

A woman named Kim Ricketts wanted to host a book signing with the iconic author, Stephen King.

These were his basic requirements:

  • She’d need to hire multiple bodyguards

  • She’d need to find a place that holds 5,000 people

  • She’d need to book the venue for 8 hours

And then, things got a little more specific for King, a man who has sold 400 million books in his lifetime.

  • She’d need to limit each person to 3x autographs max

  • She’d need to stand beside him and ice his shoulder

The ice? Well, it’s draining to sign 15,000 autographs over 8 hours.

So draining, in fact, that early in the signing, King had to pause. He looked up to Kim and told her, “Can you get me some bandages?”

His signing hand, she noticed, was covered in calluses. Author Chuck Palahniuk described it this way:

“[King] showed her his signing hand, how the skin along the thumb and index finger had fossilized into a thick callus from a lifetime of marathon book signings.”

🩸 “I’m bleeding on the stock,” he told her.

She started to step away, to find some bandages, but it was too late. The SKLs saw their opportunity.

The next person in line said, “No fair! If Mr. King bleeds in his books then he has to bleed in mine!”

And on it went, according to the legend. King went back to signing books.

Over the next 8 hours, he “managed to sign his name and smear a trace of his blood in every book.”

Key takeaway: One way or another, you bleed for your work.

Marketing

‘The Boogeyman’

Know When to Open (or Close) the Door

According to Stephen King, there are two distinct phases to the craft:

"Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open. Your stuff starts out being just for you, in other words, but then it goes out. Once you know what the story is and get it right — as right as you can, anyway — it belongs to anyone who wants to read it. Or criticize it."

- Stephen King, On Writing

Phase 1: The initial stage of developing a marketing strategy or campaign is often an insular one, where marketers "write with the door closed" to focus on crafting the right message and approach for the target audience.

Phase 2: Once that foundation is established, however, it's time to "rewrite with the door open" — seeking feedback, testing the campaign with a sample audience, and making adjustments based on their responses.

This openness to criticism and willingness to refine the work is essential for creating marketing content that truly resonates with the intended audience.

Habits

Write a Book in 60 Days — like the King

In a live talk, the two most famous authors alive today sat down for a conversation. Stephen King, the fastest writer. George R.R. Martin, the slowest.

The author of Game of Thrones couldn’t help but ask: “How the f**k do you write so many books so fast?” King provided a simple formula:

  • Work for 3-4 hours per day (process)

  • Write 6 pages per day (results)

  • Write for 60 days (repeat)

This boring, dull, mathematical formula is how King writes 360-page manuscripts in as little as 60 days.

Future Authors: If you’re looking to write your first non-fiction book, join the Prolific Community (for FREE) and look for the 12-week book-writing course.

Author’s Note: in my very first interview, Blake Masters (2 Guns) told me the same thing: He aims to write “two beats per day.” Simple? Yes. Easy? No.

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