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<blockquote data-quote="overgeeked" data-source="post: 9035013" data-attributes="member: 86653">A recent Facebook discussion of AI in writing reminded me of a book I meant to read from 2016, The Bestseller Code. A couple of lit majors and computer programmers set various computer programs loose on analyzing the New York Times' bestselling books for the last 30+ years along with a few thousand non-bestsellers to see if there are any predictive elements of a bestseller. Spoiler: yes, there are quite a few exclusive elements that make for a bestseller. Note: this isn't a how to write book. Having tore through that book in a few days, I decided to try out a NYT bestseller. I picked up a few of James Patterson's Women's Murder Club books. Patterson seems to have cut a lot from his writing to ruthlessly up the pacing. The description is minimalist in the extreme. The chapters are all short scenes of the &quot;start late and get out early&quot; variety. Maybe a few printed pages at most. I'm just halfway through the book but already on chapter 63. When he does transition between locations or times it's with a sentence at most. I can't tell if I like his style or not, but it's definitely a fast-paced, page-turner of a mystery/thriller.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="overgeeked, post: 9035013, member: 86653"] A recent Facebook discussion of AI in writing reminded me of a book I meant to read from 2016, The Bestseller Code. A couple of lit majors and computer programmers set various computer programs loose on analyzing the New York Times' bestselling books for the last 30+ years along with a few thousand non-bestsellers to see if there are any predictive elements of a bestseller. Spoiler: yes, there are quite a few exclusive elements that make for a bestseller. Note: this isn't a how to write book. Having tore through that book in a few days, I decided to try out a NYT bestseller. I picked up a few of James Patterson's Women's Murder Club books. Patterson seems to have cut a lot from his writing to ruthlessly up the pacing. The description is minimalist in the extreme. The chapters are all short scenes of the "start late and get out early" variety. Maybe a few printed pages at most. I'm just halfway through the book but already on chapter 63. When he does transition between locations or times it's with a sentence at most. I can't tell if I like his style or not, but it's definitely a fast-paced, page-turner of a mystery/thriller. [/QUOTE]

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