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Most creative practices, certainly those that have been commodified, involve interaction with some form of producer or director. One could point to the film and music industries, where collaboration is the norm, in defence of Patterson’s approach. One is unlikely to find an abundance of such nuances in a text that is all plot. At the same time, the role of the critic, and indeed, the reader, is to appreciate, interpret, and communicate that which is hidden in the nuances of artistic expression. Structure is rich in creative potential, and plot was essential to the novel long before movements like high modernism sought to subvert the popular by privileging style. The intention here is not to revive the tired debate between “high” and “low” art. The field is called stylometry, and it has been used in author attribution studies involving popular figures like Harper Lee and Rowling. Using digital methods, if sufficient samples are available, the extent to which someone actively contributes to the actual words of a text can be tested. This is a distinction worth exploring, because it is Patterson’s name that looms largest on his covers.
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He has been described as a co-publisher, more of a brand than a writer. The narrative frameworks he provides emerge from his understanding of the literary market, informed by his years of experience as an advertising executive. He is engagingly transparent about his process: co-authors work from a narrative framework provided by Patterson, who either then rewrites what they come up with or provides notes on bi-weekly drafts. Patterson’s prodigious output is accomplished through the use of collaborators: co-authors offered a chance to make their name under the tutelage of the world’s most commercially successful author. (Kirsty Wiggleworth/ PA Archive/PA Images)