James Patterson

Well, it's, you know, when I interviewed David Baldacci, he doesn't use outlines at all, which is interesting. He just wings it. And some writers do. I'm big on outlines. Interestingly, the first Alice Cross, I really wanted to do it differently than what I'd done before then. And the outline was something like 350 pages. That's like the whole book. It wasn't, but it was close.

And I read it, and that's where the short chapters came from, the colloquial writing. And I said, I like this. I did expand it another 100 pages or so, but that's where that whole style came from, that very long outline. But in general, I'll have 60 to 80 page outlines. And I'm not a slave to them. And sometimes the villain will be really interesting.

And I read it, and that's where the short chapters came from, the colloquial writing. And I said, I like this. I did expand it another 100 pages or so, but that's where that whole style came from, that very long outline. But in general, I'll have 60 to 80 page outlines. And I'm not a slave to them. And sometimes the villain will be really interesting.

And I read it, and that's where the short chapters came from, the colloquial writing. And I said, I like this. I did expand it another 100 pages or so, but that's where that whole style came from, that very long outline. But in general, I'll have 60 to 80 page outlines. And I'm not a slave to them. And sometimes the villain will be really interesting.

And I don't want the villain to die at the end of the book because I want to write about the villain again. Or a character gets more interesting than I thought. Or one of the drafts that I'll do, I'll go through and just look at every chapter and go, well, I went here. What if I go somewhere else? If I do this twist, what will it do to the story? Will that be fun? I like that.

And I don't want the villain to die at the end of the book because I want to write about the villain again. Or a character gets more interesting than I thought. Or one of the drafts that I'll do, I'll go through and just look at every chapter and go, well, I went here. What if I go somewhere else? If I do this twist, what will it do to the story? Will that be fun? I like that.

And I don't want the villain to die at the end of the book because I want to write about the villain again. Or a character gets more interesting than I thought. Or one of the drafts that I'll do, I'll go through and just look at every chapter and go, well, I went here. What if I go somewhere else? If I do this twist, what will it do to the story? Will that be fun? I like that.

That draft is one of the things that makes the books interesting because you surprise people, which I think is important for my kind of book.

That draft is one of the things that makes the books interesting because you surprise people, which I think is important for my kind of book.

That draft is one of the things that makes the books interesting because you surprise people, which I think is important for my kind of book.

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Yeah, what I'll usually do is there'll be three or four or five different things. It might be a couple of storylines. So I will just write scenes down for that storyline and then for the next storyline and then scenes with Alex and his family in no particular order. And then at a certain point, I'll sit down and try to do the outline where I'll put the scenes in some kind of order.

Yeah, what I'll usually do is there'll be three or four or five different things. It might be a couple of storylines. So I will just write scenes down for that storyline and then for the next storyline and then scenes with Alex and his family in no particular order. And then at a certain point, I'll sit down and try to do the outline where I'll put the scenes in some kind of order.

Yeah, what I'll usually do is there'll be three or four or five different things. It might be a couple of storylines. So I will just write scenes down for that storyline and then for the next storyline and then scenes with Alex and his family in no particular order. And then at a certain point, I'll sit down and try to do the outline where I'll put the scenes in some kind of order.

That's a really good example because directors do that. A lot of the young Turks now, they just go, well, I'll just go shoot it. You get somebody like, who's the guy that did Black Hawk Down? His brother died, Brett. whatever. But what he does is he's famous for it. He's a really good illustrator and he draws all the scenes. Like it actually draws like a comic book.

That's a really good example because directors do that. A lot of the young Turks now, they just go, well, I'll just go shoot it. You get somebody like, who's the guy that did Black Hawk Down? His brother died, Brett. whatever. But what he does is he's famous for it. He's a really good illustrator and he draws all the scenes. Like it actually draws like a comic book.

That's a really good example because directors do that. A lot of the young Turks now, they just go, well, I'll just go shoot it. You get somebody like, who's the guy that did Black Hawk Down? His brother died, Brett. whatever. But what he does is he's famous for it. He's a really good illustrator and he draws all the scenes. Like it actually draws like a comic book.

He literally will draw out the scenes. Wow. Okay. Well, and the great thing about that is even if he wants to change it, he goes in and he knows what he wants to shoot and why he wants to shoot it. With, I think, the best directors, they don't just do crazy angles because they can. They do it because it's part of the story.