Where Does Patterson's Short Chapters and Compactness Come From?

On NPR a few days ago James Patterson discussed a novel that influenced him, Mrs. Bridge: A Novel.

Patterson notes in the audio that Mrs. Bridge: A Novel "certainly helped inspire [his] writing style. Short chapters, compactness, and clarity."   Listen to the full audio of James Patterson below.

In the audio does it sound like James is channeling Andy Rooney or is that just me?  :)

Note also the mention of "mysteries" in the audio.  Patterson writes mysteries, right?

* Sources for this Post at Delicious.
Listen to the full audio of James Patterson below.

James Patterson on Exposition and Character

In this short clip from the JamesPatterson.com site Patterson talks about his style of writing about his characters.  He says his style is colloquial storytelling in which there is not an excess of information shared about the characters.  Some authors give a lot of background information, but Patterson does not.  This works especially when you can spread out background information over a series of novels.


Find more videos like this on The James Patterson Community