Formulas are nothing new in writing. From romance novels to Hollywood screenplays, you can find examples of popular works that follow specific patterns and styles.
Indie author Paul J. Coleman is experimenting with a formula based on James Patterson’s work. In his blog post, The James Patterson Experiment, he points out that the famous author might not be the most elegant wordsmith on the planet, but he’s certainly one of the best selling. Paul has broken down the master’s techniques and is employing them in his own novel.
In Jack Klak: MAESTRO, Paul is using Patterson’s fast-paced style (short paragraphs, short chapters), plenty of action (“when in doubt, blow something up or shoot someone”), and plain language (no purple prose here), among other tactics. Read the blog post for the complete run-down on Patterson’s style.
Though Paul’s ebook is brand new and we’ll have to wait a while to see the results of his experiment, there’s doubtlessly some truth in his observations. If you’re writing exciting genre fiction (or that’s your goal, anyway!), then you may want to think about employing some of these tactics yourself. Of course, we all have to find our own styles and write in a way that’s natural to us, but there’s nothing wrong with swiping a few tricks from those who have proven their marketability.
Hi Lindsay,
I like your point about taking one or two aspects of the formula and using them. I really believe we could all gain by using a couple of his page-turning techniques.
Paul
I don’t really notice chapter length and that sort of thing when I’m reading since the kindle makes it easy to stop anywhere, but my mom reads a lot of paperback thrillers and mysteries and has pointed out that she really likes the authors who write short chapters and keep things moving along quickly. She’s always reading in between doing other things and I think she likes having lots of little spots where it’s easy to set the book down for a bit. I know she gets restless too if there’s nothing much going on in the opening of the book.
Finally, a reason to be happy I’m pithy.
Guess that means I can continue to ignore setting? : D
@Kendra LOL. I’m sure Patterson must sneak a setting detail or two in there somewhere. 😉
Short paragraphs/sentences? Plain language? When in doubt blow something up? Why does this sound familiar? *whistles innocently*
@Becca See, I *told* you that you couldn’t go wrong with extra explosions. I just blew up a pumping house in my new WIP. You just can’t go wrong with catastrophic boiler failures.
At $4.99 I always felt it was more an experiement in how many people would pay that price just to see this experiment more so than if it would make a compelling book on its own.
Neither the blog post nor book are currently available. So I take it the experiment was a failure?