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James Patterson

Started by delboy, April 24, 2009, 12:09:38 PM

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delboy

April 24, 2009, 12:09:38 PM
Anyone else here the interview with JP on BBC4's Front Row this week? He's the most borrowed author in British Libraries and one out of every fifteen hard back books (I think those were the figures) bought in the US are JP books. Not only that, he's currently working on 27 novels simultaneously! Okay, he comes up with the plots and has other people do the first-draft writing - much like many of the great artists used to do, and also I think that's how Dumas produced so many huge books - but nevertheless!!

I've got one of his books on the shelf to read. I'm keen to see what I can learn from someone who obviously knows how to spin an engaging tale. It strikes me as amazing that he can produce so many apparantly gripping plots whilst many people (me!) struggle with one. I fully intend to analyse this book and find out the secret...

Derek
"If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it."

Robert B. Parker

Geoff_N

#1
April 24, 2009, 01:44:54 PM
I thought 'Along Came a Spider' read really new and refreshing. Less so with 'Kiss the  Girls' and I stopped reading him after 'Jack & Jill'. Why? Because I don't like formula writing. My wife continued for another few books, because like with the Patricia Cornwall and Kellerman stories, she does like formula. They give her a kind of comfort, being predictable I suppose.

My guess is that JP's 27 simultaneous novels are just one plot with 27 different characters and settings. I am not criticizing. There is a strong market for same-as, it's just that I can't see me doing it. But then he's now a millionaire and I'm feeding from the bins at the back of supermarkets.

Geoff

Ed

#2
April 24, 2009, 06:34:22 PM
I read a Kellerman a few years ago and it bugged me from beginning to predictably preposterous end. Can't say I've ever sampled a Patterson. Would have liked to have heard the interview, though. Anybody who can sell that many books has got to be worth listening to.

If you suss the secret, Del, let us know :afro: I suspect it has at least something to do with finishing the thing in the first place :scratch:
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]
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