Can you believe James Patterson Writes in Longhand?

There is something about writing longhand...

I’m blown away because Patterson is so prolific. The quote below is an interesting description of how he collaborates, too. I’ve collaborated on a few writing projects and the first thing I learned is that the collaborators must know how they are expected to contribute to the project.

“Patterson said he writes every day in longhand, and has about 40 projects ongoing at once, many in progress with co-authors. Patterson said he writes the outline and the co-authors add to it and then write the first draft, which he said he hates doing. Then he and the co-authors revise the book together into a finished product.”

Patterson also said, teachers are right about outlining: "I write from an outline, I urge you. You've heard this before, your teachers tell you every day listen to them: outline, outline, outline, outline."





I use an outline for projects when I want to cull some of the information because I know the project cannot cover all of the fascinating stuff I want to write about.

Take a look at the news clip. What do you think? Do you outline? Have any tips for collaborating?

James Patterson, qtd. in “Author James Patterson Tells Students Secrets To Writing Bestsellers” by Terri Parker