I always love learning about the writing process of different writers. I’m in awe when I think of hugely prolific authors like Dostoyevski or Tolstoy and imagine the amount of longhand writing they’ve produced. It’s a lot more laborious and time-consuming to write longhand, compared to typing. But then, what choice did they have?
And then there are people like James Patterson, who has written more than 200 novels, and who sold more hardcover novels than Stephen King, Dan Brown, and John Grisham combined.
And yes, he writes everything in longhand, with a pencil on paper.
I did the first draft in pencil. But then I typed. The two-finger minuet. I had to reach up to the counter to peck at the keys of my faithful Underwood Champion. Eventually, I hurt my back. That’s when I stopped typing and started writing everything in pencil again. I still write in pencil. I’m writing this with a number 2 pencil. The pencils were gifts from my old friend Tom McGoey. They each say Alex Cross Lives Here. My handwriting is impossible to read — even for me. Hell, I’m not sure what I just wrote.
- James Patterson
Later on he has an assistant type it up, print it out with triple spacing, and then makes his edits writing between the lines.
Now granted, Patterson’s writing process isn’t exactly what you’d imagine from a typical writer. He creates massive outlines (around 50-80 pages typically, and typically 3–4 drafts of each outline) and then often works with co-writers, who do a lot of the actual writing, which he oversees like a creative director.
I’m still curious to learn more about Patterson’s writing process, and also see how similar (or different) books he has written fully by himself are to those he has written with co-authors. Ultimately, if Patterson readers buy a Patterson book and enjoy it—does it matter how much Patterson actually wrote himself? It’s an interesting, question, and one that I could answer in different ways. And maybe this approach is really the only way to keep shipping so many new books. It’s obviously a very business-driven approach to writing, but as long as readers enjoy the books, why not? I for one enjoy reading his memoir these days.
