James Patterson writes daily from his two-room office suite in Palm Beach. His desk features stacks of white legal pads.
He keeps his plots minimal, opting for dialogue-driven stories over long expositional sections.
Patterson has shown great dedication to encouraging reading by funding his own book series for young readers as well as setting up college and teachers’ scholarships.
Coffee and golf and a view
James Patterson has become one of the most prolific authors in America with his best-selling series like Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Women’s Murder Club Private NYPD Red Daniel X Witch & Wizard and Middle School series. At 75, this prolific author is still working on 31 projects!
Patterson began his writing career as an advertising executive before leaving that career behind in 1996 to devote himself fully to writing. Today, he holds the record for having had over 200 novels make it to #1 New York Times bestseller status and boasts one of his own #1 NYT bestseller spots!
James Patterson is well known for writing thrillers and nonfiction, as well as publishing children’s books spanning genres including science fiction, historical fiction and romance. Additionally, he’s an active philanthropist who promotes literacy through book donations and college scholarships – his success establishing him as an iconic brand name in his own right.
It feels like play
James Patterson has plenty to share in his memoir, yet its stream of fragmented tales never quite coalesce into an intelligible whole. At times it feels as if Patterson has taken shelter behind this veil; yet there are moments (like when he attended a performance of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead where someone touched his leg inappropriately, which eventually helped him forgive it) which appear.
Patterson attributes his early experiences in advertising and working at a mental hospital affiliated with Harvard as having greatly shaped him, opening up a wider worldview and sparking his love of books that has since led to a publishing empire of its own.
He discusses his huge pile of ideas, and his use of writers to whittle them down. While this practice may be associated with film or music industries, Patterson points out that this tradition dates back centuries – it was how Dumas worked, as well as many of their contemporaries.
It’s fun
As he writes books like Alex Cross and Women’s Murder Club, Patterson strives to demonstrate there’s no one who doesn’t enjoy reading. Furthermore, he works to narrow his “thick folder of ideas” down to those most likely to make compelling reading material.
He draws upon his experience at J. Walter Thompson in the early 1970s to draw upon and reassemble a worldview which his English education had attempted to dismantle.
Golf and hospital work also influence his writing. Patterson usually composes longhand, and uses an assistant to transcribe and typed draft his manuscripts before editing by hand – studies indicate that people retain handwritten information better than typed notes – before using information gathered through those revisions to create his final book – an extensive process which takes up to four months from reworking through editing to proofreading and finally publishing.
It’s a challenge
Novelist and best-selling writer in history, James Patterson’s prolific works feature forensic psychologist Alex Cross. Furthermore, Women’s Murder Club and NYPD Red are just some of his other popular series. Furthermore, Patterson is known as an avid supporter of literacy initiatives through charitable work and tireless advocacy for reading programs.
James Patterson has commercialized storytelling, yet believes it need not be difficult. His process entails longhand writing followed by transcription into typed drafts and hand edits by an assistant before another edit by hand – it may not suit every writer, but Patterson remains firm in his belief that telling stories in as clear a manner as possible holds intrinsic value.
Patterson’s productivity is greatly aided by working with an army of co-authors. He provides them with detailed outlines – up to 80 pages long! – which then serve as narrative frameworks that co-authors flesh out into installments that bear his name on their covers. Patterson sees his role as that of a television showrunner in that he sets both tone and pace regardless of who writes individual chapters of books bearing his name.
