Was Stephen King Right About James Patterson Being a Terrible Writer?

Stephen King and James Patterson are two literary giants. One would think that the two writers would be united in their success, but they’ve had a love-hate relationship over the past decade. This stems from Stephen King’s critique of James Patterson, where he stated Patterson is “a terrible writer but he’s very successful.” This later led to James Patterson planning to release a book in which an antagonist would be out to murder Stephen King. This was later canceled. Despite the public jabs the two authors have thrown at one another, the situation is likely not as serious as fans would like to believe. But the question lingers, is there any truth to King’s claim that James Patterson is a terrible writer? This is a question I’ve thought about quite deeply, and it’s one I aim to explore further. As with any form of art, writing is subjective. Much of this debate comes down to what you perceive to be “good writing.” Stephen King and James Patterson respectively are the perfect contrast o...