How James Patterson Writes So Many Books

Stephen King is very prolific.  King usually offers at least one new novel a year, and often he's treated constant readers to two new novels a year.  So 2013 gave us Joyland and Doctor Sleep.  This year will see the release of Mr. Mercedes and Revival.  (I'm still waiting for someone at the big publishing house to tell us that Revival cover was just a joke.)

My wife commented recently that King sure writes books quickly.  But compare that pace to James Paterson, who has published 130 novels.

Wait.  What?  -- 130 novels?! How is that possible?

Drake Baer lets us in on Patterson's secret at businessinsider.com, noting first Pattersons pattern is one of short, fast paced chapters with lots of action.  But how does he write so much?  Baer notes,

he treats his Alex Cross, Women's Murder Club, and other series the way a television writer might approach a new season of "The West Wing" — he's worked with more than 20 co-authors.

From Baer's interview, this is an interesting note on writing:

 For me it's all rewriting. It's layering. The writing keeps hopefully getting better. The dialogue gets sharper. My style is very colloquial. It's the way we tell stories. It would be a disaster if everybody wrote the way I do. I don't put in a ton of detail.

Of course, King doesn't write this way at all.  His books are not fast paced at all, but build slowly, revolving around deep characters and a layered backdrop that make the story strike a deep chord in the reader.  Thus, I think, King readers have more of a personal connection with King's work.  Patterson pleases us the way a television episode does; it entertains us for the time.  But a good King novel draws us back time and again, because we want to reengage with those characters and relive those situations.