Hiya,
Have always enjoyed the start and finish dates Stevie sometimes puts at the end of his books. The only author I've ever seen actually do it. Not sure when he started; maybe a few publishers refused to let him early on.
It's nice to see some real-life insight to the exact dates the stories were being dreamed up (he always seemed to enjoy tearing down the mystique a little with his author's notes...), or for instance how long they were finished before publication; in Doctor Sleep's case, a whole year went by. I remember hearing that the manuscript needed a lot of work when it was finished so this could possibly display that. It's also quite fun to see how little downtime he spends. Dude writes a hell of a lot!
Here's a list of what I can find so far, would appreciate some help if there's anything missing. Some, like Mr. Mercedes and Joyland, only have an ending date, which shits me completely. Some are merely the months. I've tried to keep it in numerical/date order, but I am known to be silly with my numbers, and are you supposed to start at the beginning or end of the writing? Who knows. I haven't added the dates when they're listed with Steve's afterword, because they're probably written well after the fact, when the dust has settled on the creative streak.
End of Watch: August 30, 2015
Finders Keepers: July 26, 2014
Revival: April 6, 2013 - December 27, 2013
Mr Mercedes: September 14, 2013
Doctor Sleep: May 1, 2011 - July 17, 2012
Joyland: August 24, 2012
11/22/63: January 2, 2009 - December 18, 2010
Under the Dome: November 22, 2007 - March 14, 2009
Duma Key: February 2006 – June 2007
Cell: December 30, 2004 - October 17, 2005
Lisey's Story: August 4, 2005
Dreamcatcher: November 16, 1999 - May 29, 2000
Steve's accident - June 19, 1999
From A Buick 8 - April 3, 1999 - March 20, 2002
Bag of Bones: May 25th, 1997 - February 6th, 1998
Desperation: November 1, 1994 - December 5, 1995
Dolores Clairbourne: October 1989 - February 1992
Gerald's Game: November 16, 1991
Needful Things: October 24, 1988 - January 28, 1991
Not sure if based on reality, but DTVI implies Steve's sober date is June 19, 1988... same as the accident. A joke?
The Dark Half: November 3, 1987 - March 16, 1989
The Tommyknockers: August 19th, 1982 - May 19th, 1987
Misery: September 23rd, 1984 - October 7th, 1986
IT: September 9, 1981 - December 28, 1985
Pet Sematary: February 1979 - December 1982
Cujo: September 1977 - March 1981
The Stand: February 1975 - December 1988 (but of course that's the Complete & Uncut Edition - does anyone have the date from the original version?)
What can we learn from this info? Not a whole lot, just some nice little tidbits. Seems like Joyland was written concurrently with Doctor Sleep, for one, as was IT and The Tommyknockers -- or at least there was a bit of overlap. He had started 11/22/63 before Under the Dome had finished for another...
Under the Dome started when Obama was practically unknown, and had been finished after his inauguration!
IT took four years!
Anyway, hope this is interesting to other nuts like me. I'll continue updating.
