# Your thoughts on James Patterson?



## ConnorCarolina (Jan 5, 2014)

I have a few of the man's books, and I can kind of see how he's become so successful. Basically, he "writes" (or rather, has a legion of hack writers do the job for him) high-concept action and thriller books, publishing a new one nearly twice a month. The novels are rather simplistically written genre pieces, and the average Joe devours them like chocolate, so even if the book gets terrible reviews, Patterson and company still get on the New York Times Bestseller List. This reminds me of a film studio in the 80s called Cannon Films, which made a plethora of schlock on low budgets, hoping to make a big return on investment. It worked, strangely. However, good sales or box office alone doesn't make for a good story. You need something more. James Patterson and his cronies, in my most humble opinion, are basically exploitation writers.


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## Sam (Jan 5, 2014)

I was more excited reading the scrawled writing in a toilet stall than I was reading Patterson's first two novels (which, it bears saying, _were _written by him). He's the kind of writer who gives thriller novelists a bad name. At least when Clancy sub-contracted, he picked an author that had some concept of how to write. With Patterson, I'm not sure who writes the worst: him or his cronies. Probably him.


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## spartan928 (Jan 5, 2014)

It's a franchise. Plain and simple. A cash generating, writing factory that uses his name to pull in about $80 million a year. And to that end, it works. Not my cup of tea, but must be for the many thousands of readers who love Alex Cross, etc.


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## David Gordon Burke (Jan 6, 2014)

I have hinted at writers who I consider complete drek in previous posts but never came out and said just ´who´ I was talking about.  Now that you have opened Pandora´s box I´ll admit ... every time I have alluded to a really bad writer, I was actually talking about James Patterson.  He is by and far the WORST.  

POV?  He totally ignores the concept.  His Alex Cross novels are written in First Person from Alex´s point of view and then Third person for the stuff that Alex doesn´t know about.  Just a cheap way to Plot IMHO.  

I could go on and on.  Cliches?  His books are just ripe with cliches.  
Why would anyone read one of these when there are 60 or so Spenser novels by Robert B. Parker?  (stay away from the stuff written by ghost writers after his death)  

David Gordon Burke


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## Kyle R (Jan 9, 2014)

My thoughts on James Patterson: He's got a terrific business plan, and a tenacity to succeed that most people don't have. His tremendous output is a result of his work ethic.

He also approaches writing as a business endeavor, not as art. He doesn't believe in striving for perfection, he believes in striving for best-selling page-turners. 

While many other writers are still toiling on their first draft, he's already plotting his next novel, tweaking the outline, and workshopping it with his co-writers.

My opinion about him is, if you want to learn how to succeed as a career novelist, there's a lot you can learn from him. If you want to write poignant, high-quality prose, you probably want to look elsewhere.


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## David Gordon Burke (Jan 10, 2014)

KyleColorado said:


> My thoughts on James Patterson: He's got a terrific business plan, and a tenacity to succeed that most people don't have. His tremendous output is a result of his work ethic.
> He also approaches writing as a business endeavor, not as art. He doesn't believe in striving for perfection, he believes in striving for best-selling page-turners.
> While many other writers are still toiling on their first draft, he's already plotting his next novel, tweaking the outline, and workshopping it with his co-writers.
> My opinion about him is, if you want to learn how to succeed as a career novelist, there's a lot you can learn from him. If you want to write poignant, high-quality prose, you probably want to look elsewhere.



Not intending to pick a fight here but seeing as we are all writers, it behooves us to actually use words and phrases the way they were meant to be used.  It also seems that we have the obligation in a debate or statement to see both sides of an arguement.  
Here's where I have a problem .  

"His tremendous output is a result of his work ethic"  - I had to redefine TREMENDOUS and WORK ETHIC in this phrase to see your point.  By TREMENDOUS I imagine you are talking about quantity.  As for WORK ETHIC I would say the man has none whatsoever.  Anyone who has either started a Novel or finished one knows the massive amount of work that goes into it.  God knows how much MOST of us here wish we had a full time editor / staff that would carry some of the burden.  I'm guessing, I've heard and it seems obvious that Mr. Patterson (and many others) not only have editors but Ghost Writers and researchers / staff that do a ton of the work for them.  And the end result isn't much better than the average Indie novel published on Amazon?   Not my definition of WORK ETHIC.  

'best-selling page-turners'  They may sell like hotcakes and fall into the BESTSELLER category but I would hardly call them page-turners.  A page-turner is (my take on the concept) a book that you can't wait to turn the next page or that drives you onward with suspense or mystery or whatever.  'The Cat in The Hat' while a fine children's book hardly qualifies.  Neither does Mr. Patterson's team's work.  I've read more than a few of them and they became progressively worse with each installment.  The pages turn easily because the average grade 8 student could understand them...except for the dangling participles, cliches, POV liberties, and weaknesses in his prose.  

'My opinion about him is, if you want to learn how to succeed as a career novelist, there's a lot you can learn from him. If you want to write poignant, high-quality prose, you probably want to look elsewhere' - Is there no middle ground?  

Using a metaphor - One of my best friends grew up to be a stellar guitarist.  I watched the process with amazement - from the local music store where he bought his first guitar and took lessons to stages around the world.  Along the way this pal UTTERLY REFUSED to play crappy music.  He wouldn't waste his time learning the latest trends or tricks.  His philosophy was that the rank players that jump onto fads and the cheap musical theatrics would have a detrimental effect on what he was trying to create which was a pure, passion driven guitar styling.  

I agree with him 100% and the proof is that his playing is a pure joy to listen to, completely original and a wonderful mix of passion and technique.  Sure, he could have taken the easy route like so many others - he could have become a clone of whichever guitarist (Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Steve Vai etc.) that was grabbing the public eye at any given moment...but no.  

"Never wrestle with a pig—you get dirty and the pig likes it” 
Or from the film 8mm
"If you dance with the devil, the devil don't change. The devil changes you."

David Gordon Burke


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## Kevin (Jan 10, 2014)

How James Patterson Made His Money – Author
*Estimated Net Worth: **$330 Million* 

 I've read about 8 of his books. A friend loaned them to me. He bought them at a discounted rate from the local library...paid about a dollar each. 'Pageturner'? yes...you can read one in a matter of hours. They remind me of any formulaic genre or writer ..._murder books_ I call them, like ..._red dragon, silence of the lambs, girl with the blah blah blah_. I don't think you make that kind of money without a tremendous (huge) work ethic (drive and follow through).


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## Kyle R (Jan 10, 2014)

David said:
			
		

> "His tremendous output is a result of his work ethic" - I had to redefine TREMENDOUS and WORK ETHIC in this phrase to see your point. By TREMENDOUS I imagine you are talking about quantity. As for WORK ETHIC I would say the man has none whatsoever. Anyone who has either started a Novel or finished one knows the massive amount of work that goes into it. God knows how much MOST of us here wish we had a full time editor / staff that would carry some of the burden. I'm guessing, I've heard and it seems obvious that Mr. Patterson (and many others) not only have editors but Ghost Writers and researchers / staff that do a ton of the work for them. And the end result isn't much better than the average Indie novel published on Amazon? Not my definition of WORK ETHIC.



Hi David. I feel you're basing some of  your position on assumptions. 

Yes, JP's process is a collaborative one. But, that's his choice to make, just as you yourself are free to collaborate, or work independently, as you wish. There are many articles out there on the web about his process. I think people mistake his "co-writers" as ghostwriters, which are two entirely different things.

Here's his process, however one feels about it:

1) He writes an 80 to 100-page outline for his novel
2) He hands it off to one of his chosen co-writers to get started on it
3) He begins working on his next novel outline
4) He gets back some draft chapters from his co-writer
5) He begins rewriting the chapters
6) He hands his outline for his next novel off to the next cowriter
7) He returns his reworked chapters to his first cowriter
8 ) He begins working on his next novel outline

and so on, and so forth. The guy has serious work ethic, in my opinion. It may not be a process some find appealing, or even worthy of consideration, but that's all about personal preference. It doesn't mean he isn't a hard worker. He just works _differently_ than many writers, who like to fly solo.

JP has admitted that at any given time he has an average of 20 to 30 manuscripts that he's working on, with an average of nine rewrites per novel. At one time. I call that work ethic. Yes, it's a process that's very much different from, say, you or me, but that's just how he does it.

Whether or not the quality of writing is up to standards is more of an opinion sort of thing, as, while some may find his writing poor, there are millions of others who eat up his novels like, as you put it, hotcakes.

He's learned a process that works for him, and he's found a comfortable style and niche that his reading public enjoys.

Personally, I agree with you that his writing is not exactly stellar. He's definitely not on my list of favorite authors to read. But, I find it hard to argue against his work ethic, and his results. He's a Type A personality and it shows with his production rate. He has co-writers in order to keep up with his output, not so that they can do all the work.

That's how I see it, anyway. :encouragement:


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