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Man Of Many, Many Words (Though Not All His)

By Robert Swartwood on January 21, 2010

For the record, I’m not a James Patterson fan. I have nothing against the guy; he’s brillant at marketing himself and seems to know what he’s doing. Some would even argue that he’s single-handedly helped keep the publishing industry alive this long … despite the fact that his work (often co-authored) floods the market and keeps other writers from possible success.

I just read a lengthy New York Times essay about the man and how he’s changed publishing. I tweeted the link but want to include it here in case anybody wants to start a dialogue with their thoughts on the subject. This one paragraph really suck out to me as someone who would one day like to actually make a living off his writing:

“I have a saying. If you want to write for yourself, get a diary. If you want to write for a few friends, get a blog. But if you want to write for a lot of people, think about them a little bit. What do they like? What are their needs? A lot of people in this country go through their days numb. They need to be entertained. They need to feel something.”

Posted in | 5 Responses

  • http://jointhebirdies.blogspot.com jeremy kelly

    I’ve never read him, but I’ll give him this: it sounds to me like he knows what he’s talking about. You have to wonder though, if he gets any enjoyment out of it. Is he still writing for himself at all, besides the royalty checks?

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  • ravi

    He’s a machine.

    Off topic: Did you see the new Narrative book-length contest? 45 dollar entry.

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  • Robert Swartwood

    Jeremy – I think he does enjoy what he does (he has more than enough money to stop doing it and retire), but first and foremost he’s a businessman. He likes the challenge. That part about taking on a new co-author from one country because his sales were strong there is a good example of that. He wants to be top dog, and he is.

    Ravi – Are you serious??? I try not to bother myself with their stupidness anymore. Their iStory scheme was the last straw. First, they didn’t “create a new genre” and still 20 bucks for a story 150 words long? Ridiculous. Still … 45 dollars for a book-length contest is surprising. You’d think with their normal dollar-to-word ration it’s be like 500 bucks.

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  • http://www.jennashworth.blogspot.com Jenn Ashworth

    That’s interesting. I’ve found that editing is about becoming my own reader – or sometimes imagining what the reader’s experience will be as I go through my own work with a red pen. There’s no point writing something (that you want to be published / read by others) without keeping those others in mind – although it’s so hard to keep the balance there and be considerate to your reader while accepting that you need to stay true to your own vision for the project. Or maybe for most writers, there’s no conflict between those two ideas at all?

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  • Robert Swartwood

    Good thoughts, Jenn. When I edit, I try to take the Elmore Leonard approach: cut out the stuff readers skip.

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