Lee Child: How to Write Strikingly Well | How I Write

Lee Child, the author of the Jack Reacher series, discusses his writing process, emphasizing the importance of creating a sense of place through temperature and the physics it imposes on a story. Child reveals his method of improvising stories based on location rather than detailed planning, drawing inspiration from Alastair Maclean and John D. MacDonald. He values the familiarity a series provides readers, contrasting it with the unpredictable nature of Stephen King's books. Child aims for propulsion in his writing, using sentence rhythm and cliffhangers to keep readers engaged, a technique he attributes to his television background. He also touches on crafting compelling characters and the illusion of natural dialogue.