So back in 2020, I decided to take Stephen King’s advice from ‘On Writing‘ literally. I ended up creating The Stephen King Writing Challenge.
Despite underestimating the challenge I created, I managed to finish the blasted thing. And when I did, I realized how much I had gotten out of it.
In one week I had become a better writer. I had created several new short stories. I felt healthier and stronger from doing all the yard work and housework I had been putting off. I had become friends with some of the best writers on Twitter.
In short, writing like Stephen King for a week helped me. It certainly helped me more than my laissez-faire writing schedule ever had.
Now, thanks to the incomparable Tina Capricorn, the next round of the challenge is starting… and this time I’m asking you to join us.
The 2021 Stephen King Writing Challenge will be running from March 15th to March 29th.
To participate you must do five things each day.
- You must write 2,000 ‘fairly clean’ words for a creative work of fiction each day.
- You must only work on one creative story/piece a day.
- You must get 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day.
- You must read a book for at least 30 minutes every day.
- You must share each day’s progress on Instagram and Twitter using #StephenKingWritingChallenge.
Fair warning: This challenge is tough. In the first round, we had a roughly 60% completion rate for everyone who started.
It is BLISTERINGLY hard to start writing like Stephen King when you have no idea how hard Stephen King actually works to write like he does.
So, as we get closer to the challenge, be sure to check out the resources below to make sure you’re using all the tools at your disposal:
Articles
How To Cheat During The Stephen King Writing Challenge
Why you should be thinking of a SKWC backup plan
The Ten Day Checklist
How to ask for help from others:
The Stephen King Writing Challenge Discord Server
#StephenKingWritingChallenge on Twitter
#StephenKingWritingChallenge on Instagram
Tina Capricorn’s Contact Info
@tinasammich – @tinacapricornwrites
L. H. Adamkiewicz’s Contact Info
@liofromohio – @leighwillwritethat
Are you on the fence? Let me tell you how this challenge can help you.
Do you want to write more? But can’t seem to start writing more?
Boom. This challenge will fix that.
Do you love the idea of NaNoWriMo but don’t have a full month to devote to a single writing project?
Boom. This challenge has you covered.
Do you want to connect with the writers and creators you admire on Instagram and Twitter?
Well now you have an icebreaker! Ask them if they’re doing the challenge. Post your daily stats about doing the challenge. Complain about the challenge! Get book recs from small publishers and up-and-coming writers when your TBR pile finally starts taking critical damage!
The more people join into this beautifully horrible experiment, the better writers we’re all going to be. So join us! Tell friends! Tell all your friends! Tell their friends!
And join us for the 2021 Stephen King Writing Challenge on March 15th.