Be a Storyteller

I was a little under the weather yesterday, so I spent the day reading A Time for Mercy the latest Grisham novel.

John Grisham has sold over 300 million books.

He talked a small press into publishing 5,000 copies of his first book A Time to Kill. In his words, he couldn’t give it away.

Then Random House published his second novel The Firm. It became a bestseller and he eventually also sold millions of copies of A Time to Kill.

What does this mean to BC writers?

Maybe nothing. But I think his writing might provide insight for BC writers.

Grisham is not a great technical writer. I put an excerpt of A Time to Kill through Grammarly. In 1364 words, there were at least six misspellings. Grammarly gave his work a grade of 94, which is about the same grade I get when I put my work through their system.

However, he is a terrific storyteller.

New writers on BC seem to worry a lot about everything but basic storytelling.

Grisham has proven that not very many people care.

Jill