The Pitter-Patter of Patterson

James Patterson has written over 70 books. He releases two to three books a year and I've always seen his books on the endcaps in the book department of every grocery store you can think of. It helps that he comes from an ad marketing background. He was the one who coined the phrase, "I wanna be a Toys-R-Us kid." His stories know no boundaries. He's written fantasy, young adult, adult dramas, adult crime thrillers and a couple of non-fiction books. I admire this guy's zeal, even though I haven't read anything from him.

What's interesting to know is that even though a portion of his works aren't well liked, he continues to outsell both Stephen King and John Grisham together. I haven't read one full book by him but when I do, I'm going to make sure it's one that I know I will like such as Sunday's at Tiffany's or The Witch and The Wizard or The Dangerous Days of Daniel X.

But I think one important thing to take from Mr. Patterson's writing is that he is not stopping. He's written so many, he's become a household name, like it or not. That got me thinking, if you write enough you will gain more publicity and more recognition whether the work is garbage or not. Being a writer is a risk anyway. Sometimes you get a hit and sometimes you don't. But just keep writing. We already view each piece of work as our babies so why not be fruitful and mutiply.

For more in depth information on James Patterson's writing process, take a look at this interesting article by The New York Times:

James Patterson Inc.

"Don't be 'a writer'. Be writing." — William Faulkner