Entertainment Sells Books!
NYPD RED 2
James Patterson’s books are a prime
example that the entertainment factor sells books. Say what you will about his
methods—they work. Patterson’s books entertain the reader. How?
Patterson
leaves out the fat. His books use a bare minimum of things like character and
setting description, narrative, and back-story. At the same time, they always have an action-packed plot!
Readers can’t get
enough; Patterson has a new book on the top ten NYT list at least once a month.
NYPD
RED 2 begins when police in NY find the body of a woman (dressed in a hazmat
suit!) on the carousel in Central Park.
Turns out, she’s the fourth in a series of similar crimes. Detectives
Zack Jordan and Kylie MacDonald search for the killer amid things like public
pressure, and political and personal secrets. The story is a great suspense
read.
Is
NYPD RED 2 a literary masterpiece? Of course not. But it’s definitely five-star
entertainment.
What writers can learn from
Patterson’s style.
1.
Scarcity
of description, both of characters and scenes, make for an easy read.
Many readers (myself included, I’m afraid) will skim right over any that are
more than a few sentences.
2.
Short
chapters, while they don’t guarantee a successful book, make it easy
for a reader to set the book aside when necessary. Few readers have the
luxury of reading a book nonstop for a long period of time. Personally, I find
short chapters addictive. Often breaking off in the middle of the action, I have to see
what happens next.
3.
Series
books Readers love series
books, and Patterson has at least nine different series, each one with a new
story at least once a year.
4. Multi-genre offerings Writing in
more than one genre opens your writing up to a greater number of readers.
5. An occasional flop Patterson
does, now and then, publish a book that disappoints his fans. Granted, taking a
risk isn’t nearly as chancy when you’re cranking out as many books as he is,
but the lesson to be learned is: we can’t be afraid to publish an occasional
book that might not be everything our readers want. We need to learn from it
and move on.
Dear Readers,
I know I’ve written about Patterson
before, but there is so much to be learned from his writing. Patterson is in
the business of writing, and his goal
is book sales, a goal many of us share. His work is worth checking out for
those of us struggling to get readers’ attention. Sure, there are some authors out there whose goal is
literary perfection rather than sales. But in my last post I talked about the need
for books to be entertaining and no other author exemplifies that point better
than James Patterson.
Hope you’re all writing
productively and also finding time to enjoy the beautiful weather we’re having.
