James Patterson: paragraph & chapter style

randywrite · Apr 20, 2011

Sup everyone. I wanted to ask a quick question. Back when I was reading a bunch of James Patterson Alex Cross novels, I noticed that he used both short paragraphs and short chapters to create an illusion of speed in his writing.

Well, I started doing the same thing right away. However, what I'm writing now seems to be turning out with long paragraphs and chapters. It looks a bit clunky on the page. Should I try to break it down: Patterson Style? Or, should I just keep rolling?

Thx, Randy :Shrug:

ChaosTitan · Apr 20, 2011

Forget Patterson. Find your own style.

randywrite · Apr 20, 2011

ChaosTitan said:
Forget Patterson. Find your own style.

OK........................

randywrite · Apr 20, 2011

I'm not at all obsessed with Patterson. I just picked up a habit from him and now I wonder if I should break it. Like...is it a good habit or a bad habit or neither?

brainstorm77 · Apr 20, 2011

I agree with CT. Find your own style.

ChaosTitan · Apr 20, 2011

I think that short paragraphs/short chapters works well for some genres, like thrillers. And I think it works poorly for others.

Personally, I'm not a fan of Patterson's writing style. I've tried to read it, disliked it, and I'd never try to emulate it.

Jon Sprunk · Apr 20, 2011

Short sentences and paragraphs (and chapters) can lend a faster pace to your writing, but you have to ask yourself if every scene (or even every story) needs such a breakneck speed. Even the most action-packed thriller needs to pause once in a while for the characters (and readers) to breathe. And most leisurely stories will likely benefit from the opposite, longer structures that lend themselves to lengthy conversations and deep introspection.

Find out what your story needs.

quicklime · Apr 20, 2011

randywrite said:
I'm not at all obsessed with Patterson. I just picked up a habit from him and now I wonder if I should break it. Like...is it a good habit or a bad habit or neither?

if the habit clashes with your style, its probably bad....unless your style is to suck, then clash away....

you pick up quirks if you read enough of someone; King mentioned he went through a bradbury phase where he was wordy and nostalgic and a pulp phase where he was punchier and mor direct, and I think I can see both and pick books from either, although it has been long enough I'd be reluctant to trust myself completely. anyway, you'll change as you read, because you find other people doing things you come to hate and those will shade your writing, and you'll also find things you wish to emulate. It happens.

Its only a problem if it has so much control it messes up your writing or butts heads with it, or if it becomes derivative

movieman · Apr 20, 2011

Jon Sprunk said:
Short sentences and paragraphs (and chapters) can lend a faster pace to your writing, but you have to ask yourself if every scene (or even every story) needs such a breakneck speed.

Personally I find one of my most common complaints when critiquing other people's unpublished stories is that they use short sentences when there's really no need for it and could have combined them into longer ones. As you say, some stories benefit from that style, but most don't, or only benefit in places where you actually want the writing to be fast-paced.

maestrowork · Apr 20, 2011

Like they said, find your own style.

Miriel · Apr 20, 2011

Try it one way, then the other? I don't always know what works until I try it. Especially with short stories, I try to do something than my usually patterns to help strengthen my other writing muscles so my novels end up with description, characters, dialogue, and plot all in good measure.

dangerousbill · Apr 20, 2011

randywrite said:
Sup everyone. I wanted to ask a quick question. Back when I was reading a bunch of James Patterson Alex Cross novels, I noticed that he used both short paragraphs and short chapters to create an illusion of speed in his writing.

He wasn't the first to do this. Choppy writing gives the illusion of hectic activity or frantic thinking.

I put in my time emulating techniques of popular writers. I used to do this by actually copying passages from their novels or stories. Doing it this way helped me to painlessly absorb details of technique. I'm not smart enough to think these things up by myself.

If you find your paras growing too long, you need to look at this during rewrite or editing, not while you're composing the story in the first draft. By waiting, you'll be able to focus entirely on sentence structure without worrying about the next plot twist. Try removing adverbs and adjectives and using simple sentence structure, punchier verbs, and short words of one or two syllables whenever possible.

dangerousbill · Apr 20, 2011

ChaosTitan said:
Forget Patterson. Find your own style.

I never understood what that meant. I found my style by borrowing/stealing from successful writers.

EclipsesMuse · Apr 20, 2011

dangerousbill said:
I never understood what that meant. I found my style by borrowing/stealing from successful writers.

She meant find what works best for you and your story. Don't borrow from another writer just because it's popular. You need to find what style makes your writing shine.

bowiefan1970 · Apr 20, 2011

I would never think about how paragraphs look on the page, as far as them being "clunky". I think a normal flow has some longer paragraphs combined with shorter ones. Dialogue breaks it up even more. Just go with the flow, bro.

JamieFord · Apr 20, 2011

That's a style in the same way that McDonald's has a style of making hamburgers.

EclipsesMuse · Apr 20, 2011

I decided to come back to this thread a topic that should go along with pacing. Rhythm. It is what can make or break prose. Changing the variety of your sentences can help the flow of your writing. It can also help with pacing.

I've been experimenting with rhythm in my current WIP. My alpha noted that the scenes where I used rhythm were easier to read. So, it works!

blacbird · Apr 20, 2011

ChaosTitan said:
Forget Patterson. Find your own style.

James Patterson is a novel factory which employs lots of other writers to write under the brand name. The construction of novels authored by "James Patterson" is of little value as examples to writers who can't work that way (i.e., almost everybody else).

Susan Coffin · Apr 20, 2011

I like Patterson's writing style- short paragraphs and chapters, fast paced and to the point. Since his books are thrillers, his techniques work well.

However, I think no matter who the author is, it's best to find our own style of writing.

Euan H. · Apr 20, 2011

I see blacbird beat me to it. "James Patterson" is now a brand. He puts his name on novels written by others to a particular style. I've no doubt he has a "Pattern Style Guide" in which the number of words per sentence and number of sentences per paragraph.

I enjoyed his early stories (the ones he actually wrote), but even then the prose grated. Too much. Of this. Gets annoying quickly. Those few words. Choppy. Teeth start to ache.

AmsterdamAssassin · Apr 21, 2011

If the whole book. Is like that. You will get. Bad reviews. And letters. From readers. Who'd like some rest. Between the passages. Of frantic action. And hectic pace.

So it's best to vary the scenes of immediate action with more leisure description or narrative, to slow down the pace. Make an atmospheric description of a city on the brink of ruin, with a sky the color of a nicotine-stained plaster ceiling, and use that setting to draw the reader in, before you once again change the scene and write some choppy dialogue.

"You know..."
"No, I don't. I told you--"
"Don't interrupt me! I can barely finish a sentence--"
"I'm only doing to you what you're doing to me."
"But you're the one holding the gun."
"Can't help it you lost yours."

vrabinec · Apr 21, 2011

AmsterdamAssassin said:
If the whole book. Is like that. You will get. Bad reviews. And letters. From readers. Who'd like some rest. Between the passages. Of frantic action. And hectic pace.

So it's best to vary the scenes of immediate action with more leisure description or narrative, to slow down the pace. Make an atmospheric description of a city on the brink of ruin, with a sky the color of a nicotine-stained plaster ceiling, and use that setting to draw the reader in, before you once again change the scene and write some choppy dialogue.

"You know..."
"No, I don't. I told you--"
"Don't interrupt me! I can barely finish a sentence--"
"I'm only doing to you what you're doing to me."
"But you're the one holding the gun."
"Can't help it you lost yours."

This ^

The length of sentences and paragraphs should be taylored to what's being presented in the scene. If the scene is a protag talking to his father about his past, you might want to use longer sentences, and more dialogue tags to give the reader time to think about the introspective aspects of the conversation. If the scene is an assassination attempt, cut the sentence length, use fewer dialogue tags, shorter paragraphs. Play the reader like you're playing a piano. Sometimes you use the pedals, sometimes you don't.

NeuroFizz · Apr 21, 2011

I agree with everyone that we all should develop our own writing style, and to do so, it's okay to borrow from published authors. But that should be just a starting point not an ending point, and that duplication should never be a goal.

More important, though, we should adapt our writing style to what is best for the story. This means our first story may require a different story construction than our second story, or our third. A good author can be flexible with this while still maintaining his/her personal stamp on writing style.

Let the story dictate things like scene (and chapter) number and length as well as some of the finer points of story construction.

dangerousbill · Apr 21, 2011

Susan Littlefield said:
However, I think no matter who the author is, it's best to find our own style of writing.

That's been my problem with this whole thread. Folks keep saying 'find your own style'. I looked in the closet, and the garden, and the back of the refrigerator, and there was no style there.

I even looked behind the flush tank of the toilet. There was a gun there, held in place by tape. It turned out I was in Mario Puzo's style. But my style wasn't there.

I looked in how-to-write-good manuals, and they all said, 'find your own style'. Thanks a lot, guys.

I found the Virgin Mary burned onto my pancakes this morning, but not my style.

I have a style, and I got it by reading a lot and seeing what worked for other writers, and trying it out to see what worked for me.

VoireyLinger · Apr 21, 2011

Question: What do you gain from the short structure used by Patterson/Cross?

In writing, shorter, quicker sentences, paragraphs and chapters are things an author can use to push pacing, ramp up tension, and keep a reader engaged. They can be tools or ploys, it all depends on how you use them.

My personal opinion is that Patterson/Cross use them as ploys. The few books I've read from them have had stories that crawl along, almost lethargically at points, but because of the short style writing it feels as if the pages are flying.

As a writer, I use the short style when the tension in a given scene peaks, or as I'm reaching the plot climax. I prefer my ending chapters to be 1000 to 1500 words shorter than my early chapters, my sentences can be short almost to the point of choppy in tense spots and paragraphs are cut to a sentence or two in places, all with the purpose of driving the story a certain way.

In the same way, I also use longer, more languorous structure when I want the reader to relax, to soak in the moment or catch their breath between bits of action. The opposite writing tool for the opposite effect.

So... if you choose to override your natural tendency for longer structure, what will you gain from it? If you can't pick out a good, strong reason to do so, I say don't. Write however the words naturally come to you.

James Patterson: paragraph & chapter style

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