Back in August 2020, when once-in-a-lifetime historical events were happening every couple of days, I decided I needed a challenge.

I was reading Stephen King’s book On Writing and got it in my head that anyone could become a better writer if they followed King’s personal writing schedule. (At least a modified version of it. The actual schedule is insane.)

So I re-read his book, took careful notes, and came up with a Writing Schedule Challenge that – in theory – anyone could do.

It’s been four years and, after a brief hiatus, I’m bringing the challenge back for 2024.

This is not an easy challenge. Some participants have had panic attacks. Some have had existential crises. Some have sworn they will never do it again. Some have out and out rage quit.

Let’s talk about why you should try it anyway.

From March 15th to March 29th, you have to write like Stephen King.

• You must write 2,000 ‘fairly clean’ new 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.
• If you choose to share each day’s progress on social media, you must use #StephenKingWritingChallenge.

If you’ve done NaNoWriMo or have participated in a Twitter/X Pitch Party in the past, you may think this whole thing sounds like a piece of cake.

But this challenge is a lot harder than it looks.

The first time we ran it, only 60% of participants made it to the finish line. Traditionally published authors have tried this challenge and failed. Seasoned BookTubers have been unable to make it to the finish line.

Even the professionals have failed to write like Stephen King.

So why even attempt the challenge at all?

Because the benefits are immense.

People who participate in this challenge will:

• Finally finish manuscripts that have been half finished for years.
• Develop new stories that they’ve kept on the back burner.
• Find their most productive writing schedule.
• Watch their creative writing skills improve in real time.
• Actually read a chunk of their TBR pile.
• Find new ways to budget their time.
• Feel healthier and possibly lose weight.
• Start going to sleep at a reasonable hour.
• Sleep deeper and more completely than they have in years.
• Appreciate their time with friends and loved ones more.
• Have something smart to promote on social media that isn’t Pi Day.

But more than that, it will show you the sheer amount of work it takes to make a living at this stuff.

I see so many people debating what it would take for an author in the age of BookTok and BookTube to become as famous as J. K. Rowling, George R. R. Martin, or Stephanie Meyer. They debate if social media or a blog with a Substack is a better way for an author to promote themselves. They’re already strategizing how authors can address and combat AI as it becomes a rising threat.

But even with the all the modern publishing industry issues that writers must face, one thing has remained universal.

In order to become a world famous writer, you’re going to have to write. A lot. For decades at a time.

This challenge is the literary equivalent of a manufactured dinner rush on Kitchen Nightmares. It drops you into a situation where you have to write like a published author with a determined agent breathing down your neck and a furious public demanding your next manuscript.

It forces you to see the enormous amount of time and energy it takes to make this gig your permanent job. It’ll also show you if you’re really as good as you think you are.

If you’re not up to par yet – and many of us won’t be – it will show you the areas you need to beef up before you actually try to conquer the literary world.

Of course you can.

The first time I invited the general public to try the challenge, people started looking for loopholes within three days. So, after many debates, we now have a few officially accepted cheat codes:

Moderate Exercise can include any physical activity done continuously for 30 minutes.

Some of us don’t look good in pastel workout gear. Or in one of those swimsuits with the super high leg holes. I am not ordering anyone to powerwalk through a mall. So while I do recommend a peaceful walk around the neighborhood for your 30 minutes of exercise, I realize that’s not always an option.

Instead, you could:

• Do the laundry that has slowly been taking over parts of your house.
• Do the dishes in the sink that you are worried will soon gain sentience.
• Shovel the driveway of the old woman down the street, who always pays you in Snickerdoodles.
• Defeat your archnemisis in hand to hand combat after a lifelong quest to bring them to justice.
• Pull weeds, plant flowers, and install irritating lawn gnomes in your front yard.
• Help your favorite acquaintance move a heavy sofa into their second story apartment.
• Rescue small cats and/or children from drainage pipes in a nearby vacant lot.
• Finally push your car out of that ditch.

As long as you’re constantly in motion for 30 minutes while you do your activity, it will count.

You can make one small modification to the rules.

Say, for example, you’ve never written more than 700 words a day in your life. Your fingers just don’t move that fast and every time you’ve tried you’ve been burnt out for days. In that case, you can adjust your daily word count to 500 words and keep everything else the same.

Likewise, if you’ve got mobility issues or know that daily exercising can trigger a past ED, you can swap your 30 minutes of exercise for meditation, mindful breathing, or something similar.

But you can only make one small adjustment and your personalized targets cannot be adjusted after the challenge starts.

You can’t listen to audiobooks.

Logically, this whole challenge is about putting words onto the page. Learning how the professional writers put their words onto the page. Finding better ways to put more of your words onto the page.

So why would you use a story that doesn’t rely on pages?

Plus, every past participant who mentioned using audiobooks for the reading portion quit this challenge early. Every single one. That’s a 100% failure rate.

Even worse, you could see the tailspin coming every time:

Step 1: “Oh geez, it’s been so busy lately. I think I’m just going to listen to audiobooks instead.”
Step 2: “I don’t know why, but listening to audiobooks just makes me think of everything else I need to do in my life. Does anyone have any tips for getting their focus back?”
Step 3: Silence or a quick note that they were dropping off.

Yes, listening to audiobooks is still reading. No, I’m not usually a story snob. (I’m currently listening my way through Max Brooks’ DeEvolution with red-mawed, ghoulish glee.)

But just like a wedding planner knows that choosing That Public Park for the venue means that the couple will be divorced in less than a year, I know that audiobooks will wreck anyone’s chances at finishing this challenge.

We’re absolutely not doing them this year.

You can’t count non-fiction writing towards your daily goal.

You’ve been telling your bosses for months that That Project was going to derail. Today it finally happened. You had to spend your lunch break writing out a mass email to identify the guilty party and give everyone else new marching orders. Geez, this email is at least 3,000 words long. Does that mean you don’t have to write your 2,000 words today?

Nope. You still have to write.

Writing fiction is a completely different set of mental gears from writing non-fiction or even writing utilitarianly. This whole challenge should be helping you build your writer’s toolbox – the set of techniques that let your words sing and stops you from falling into common pitfalls. So you need to make sure those specific tools are used and kept polished.

Even if you’ve written Moby Dick’s Incident report today, your 2,000 daily word count still awaits.

1. Tell your writing support team that you’re doing the challenge.
   • On social media, use #StephenKingWritingChallenge.
2. Drop me a line and let me know that you’re participating. I’m not on Twitter/X anymore, but you can find me at:
   • The Stephen King Writing Challenge Discord
   • Instagram: @LeighWillWriteThat
   • Twitch: @LeighWillWriteThat
   • Tumblr: @LeighWillWriteThat
3. From March 15th – March 29th, post a daily check in and tell us how things are going.
4. If you drop out before the two weeks are up, let us know how long you lasted and what ended up knocking you out.

See you on March 15th!