John Grisham's Winning Formula

John Grisham's Winning Formula:

Long before John Grisham's name became synonymous with modern legal thrillers and otherwise great mysteries, he was slaving away in his own small private legal practice where his specialties were criminal law and litigation in his hometown of Southaven, Mississippi. Though it would seem rather fitting that a lawyer with trial experience would pen his experiences/fantasies, Grisham never saw writing in his future.

After scrapping his boyhood dreams of becoming a famous baseball player, Grisham earned a degree in Accounting before attending Law school, in the hopes of practiscing tax law. Upon realizing the "lunacy" of tax law, Grisham focused his efforts on criminal law and found a niche in personal injury litigation. It was jJust three years into his practice, when he happened to chance upon a trial which would change his life. "This ten year old girl was testifying against a man who had raped her and left her for dead," he says. "I never felt such emotion and human drama in my life. I became obsessed wondering what it would be like if the girl's father killed that rapist and was put on trial. I had to write it down."

After waking up at 5 a.m. nearly every morning for six days a week for three years straight, Grisham had his first novel penned but had great difficulty getting it published. 28 different publishing companies rejected his proposal! Finally, A Time to Kill was published by Wynwood Press and sold a mere 5,000 copies. Thankfully, his poor showing in his first book didn't dissuade from writing a second, a third, a fourth… right down to his 29th as of June 2012. After selling more than 250 million copies of his novels, Grisham's suspenseful writing continues to enthrall readers on an international scale (having been translated into over 40 different languages). Titles such as The Firm, The Client, and The Runaway Jury have not only succeeded in captivating readers but have been adapted into popular films. His worldwide success begs the question, why his works remain so popular?

The biggest reason for his popularity is his appeal to contemporary viewersreaders. The success behind Grisham's novels as legal thrillers has come through the author's ability to focus the suspense and drama around a character, rather than the case the character is involved