Write Better Books | A Lesson From James Bond

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I love James Bond. Watching Goldfinger on TV is one of my earliest cinematic memories. Sean Connery was the coolest guy imaginable—he had incredible gadgets, a beautiful car, and even more beautiful girls. Gert Fröbe was the perfect villain and Oddjob terrified me for weeks.

For me, Goldfinger is the best Bond film.

Over the years, I’ve watched every Bond movie countless times. Some come close to Goldfinger. Some fall short—way short. But even the bad ones (Die Another Day, for example) can’t stop me from eagerly awaiting the next Bond adventure.

It’s strange, really. When you’ve seen them all multiple times, read a dozen books, explored the comics, and learned about Ian Fleming, the cars, and the film locations… you understand how formulaic Bond is. Almost every film follows the same structure:

  • Megalomaniac villain
  • Bond girl
  • Cool car
  • Special gadget
  • Opening stunt scene
  • Car chase
  • The classic “Bond meets villain at dinner” moment
  • Final explosion, villain dies, Bond escapes

That’s every single movie. And yet—I can’t wait to see the next one follow the exact formula.

Amazon now has creative control over the franchise. I’m not thrilled about that. Amazon (and streaming services in general) aren’t exactly known for quality storytelling. Barbara Broccoli, on the other hand, did a great job preserving the Bond essence. Still, when the next Bond film drops, I’ll be watching.

But why?

Thinking about it, I realized that the real reason I love these movies is simple: it’s the character. Bond is the kind of man every guy wants to be. We want his adventures, his cars, his women… maybe even his license to kill.

Even through some underwhelming eras—Pierce Brosnan was a fantastic Bond, but aside from GoldenEye, he was handed weak scripts—the character endures. Ian Fleming created a timeless figure who can survive bad plots and forgettable villains (remember Diamonds Are Forever?).

The big lesson here?
If you want to write great stories, start by creating a great character. When you build someone as compelling as James Bond, even a formulaic plot can become a crowd favorite. Readers (and viewers) will keep coming back—not for the structure, not for the stunts, or the explosion, but for the character.

The Best-Selling Book Genre

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My favorite genre is sci-fi. Apparently, I’m in the minority. In Germany, sci-fi accounts for only about 5% of the book market—and that’s only because it’s lumped together with fantasy. If you remove Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, The Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones, the genre probably makes up closer to just 2%.

I also enjoy reading comics, which officially represent around 8% of the market. However, in Germany, comics are grouped together with cartoons, humor, and satire, so the actual share of graphic novels is significantly lower.

Every now and then, I throw in a James Bond adventure, continue my Reacher journey, or pick up another crime or spy novel. This genre is firmly in the mainstream. Combined with horror and thrillers, the crime genre accounts for nearly 25% of book sales.

But there’s one genre that towers over all the others: Romance.

I’ve seen data from the U.S. suggesting that nearly half of all book sales fall into this category. In Germany, the numbers are a bit lower, but romance and love stories still top the charts. I even read once that romance novels with explicit content—basically erotica—sell as much as thrillers, fantasy, and sci-fi combined.

Whew. Thinking about that, I realized: I’ve never read a book anywhere near that genre. And I doubt I ever will. If I don’t enjoy reading something, I certainly won’t enjoy writing it. So don’t expect any romance novels from me anytime soon.

Thinking about my family and friends, I can’t name a single person who reads romance either. So I asked myself: Who’s buying all these books?

Then it hit me: it’s the women.

Women make up 65% of all book buyers.

Is it any wonder that publishers today mostly sign female authors? Does it surprise why Amazon promotes such books in every search query? Or that books targeted at women are the first thing you see when you walk into a bookstore?

So, if you’re in it for the money, write romance—and aim it at women.

If you’re in it for the fun, stick with robots and spy detectives. And maybe—just maybe—you’ll attract a few of the last men standing who still read more than 140 characters at a time. But even if you don’t, the joy of sending your protagonist on a journey across time and space will always beat writing yet another version of Christian Grey falling for your average barista named Bella from the corner coffee shop.

At least, if you’re a man.

What I’ll Write Over The Next Months … Years … Decades (Becoming an Author #3)

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I never really made a big plan. When I decided to write 1,000 words every day, I just started — and whatever idea came to mind first, I worked on.
This, as it turns out, was not the best approach. Some ideas I abandoned halfway through; others I finished but chose not to publish because they didn’t work well as standalone novels.

I quickly realized that having a plan isn’t just important when writing a single book — it’s essential when you want to write multiple books every year.

I have dozens of series ideas stored in my swipe file. They all look intriguing, but I know I shouldn’t start them all at once. Instead, it makes more sense to tackle them one by one.

My plan for now is simple: focus on a single series until it’s finished.

In that series, I’ve nearly finished editing Part 1. I’ve already written first drafts for Parts 2 and 3, and I’m currently writing Part 4. Overall, I’ve outlined at least 20 parts, which will eventually bring the series to a satisfying conclusion — or at least a conclusion that I personally find satisfying, tying together the major plotlines that start in Part 1.

The series is called 17, named after the main character.

It’s a crime-thriller-action story in the spirit of Bond, Reacher, Hunt, and Holmes, where the protagonist solves a new case in each book, while a massive conspiracy unfolds across the entire series. I’m blending in elements of conspiracy theories, aiming for a tone that is dark but also has moments of fun.

Whenever I need a break from the series, I’ll work on a standalone novel — not a new series. Just a single novel, perhaps in the sci-fi, mystery, or western genre, something different to refresh my creative energy.

The only other major project I’ll allow myself is a lifelong work I’ve been outlining for years: It began when I watched Disney mishandle Star Wars and HBO rush Game of Thrones to an unsatisfying end. I started thinking about how I could do it better. The result is a sci-fi opera I currently call The Eye Sees It All.

This will be a lifelong project — something I want to build slowly, one page at a time. Honestly, I have no idea how large it will eventually become.
Unlike the 17 series, where I can already estimate that I’ll be able to publish multiple books each year, I might only manage one book for The Eye every couple of years — if that.

So, my loose publishing plan will be:

  1. A 17 part
  2. Another 17 part
  3. A standalone novel
  4. A part of The Eye or another 17 part

That’s the current goal.

If I can successfully set up the system that I have in mind, new books will be out every March, June, September, and December.

I think it’s possible. Hopefully, I’m right.

Write Better Books | Read Better Stories

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I don’t consider myself the best writer in the world – though I should be number two, right behind J.R.R. Tolkien.

Jokes aside, I know a thing or two about writing well. And I’m always learning more about how to write better. Just yesterday, I stopped reading two books by authors I won’t name. I quit because both books bored me to death. They were written in a childish way, had characters I didn’t care about, and the plot went in an uninteresting direction.

Both books were bestsellers, written by big names in the industry. That means not only did millions of readers buy and enjoy them, but they were also edited by seasoned professionals.

Still, I didn’t like them – and I did something I rarely do: I didn’t finish the books.

Over the years, I’ve read thousands of books, more writing articles than I can count, and watched hours upon hours of YouTube videos from writers offering advice. Through all that, I developed a better writing style—and an eye for good writing. This eye made me stop reading the two bestsellers – they were simply not good enough for me anymore.

Looking at my early days of writing as a hobby, I’ve come a long way. Today, I sometimes laugh and sometimes cry at my first attempts at writing. The last pages I wrote yesterday, though, are good. Compared to the two bestsellers I quit on, they are awesome.

But what made me write better? And what made me realize bad writing?

I believe it’s simply reading as much as possible. Developing from writing badly to writing not so badly anymore is a process. Sure, writing every day helps. But consuming good writing is the main engine behind that progress.

If you want to write better too, I highly recommend reading better books – and also reading more. Over time, you’ll discover authors you love, genres you enjoy, and styles that resonate with you. Naturally, you’ll start imitating what you’ve read. You’ll “steal” what feels good to you and omit what is bad without even thinking about it – it just happens instinctively. Before you realize it, you’ll write something that makes you proud and let’s you boldly claim that it’s way better than this other author’s bestseller book that you couldn’t finish.

The best part of it? Doing it like that makes learning not feel like work—it actually feels like a lot of fun.

  • Athletes watch other athletes
  • Filmmakers watch films
  • Painters study classic art
  • Musicians listen to music
  • And writers learn by reading

I try to read as much as I can. On average, it’s a book and two to three comics/mangas every single week. I’ve also made it a habit to watch a movie or an episode of a show daily, to learn from that form of storytelling.

Of course, you still have to apply what you read by hammering your daily word count into the keyboard. Just reading without writing anything won’t make anyone a good writer. But if you only write and never read, there’s not much you could apply. Consuming stories exposes you to good and bad storytelling. And the more exposure you get, the more you can identify what’s good and what’s not.

So, the first rule of writing better books is simple: Read and watch better stories.

First Objective: Do More (Becoming an Author #2)

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I recently looked through Stephen King’s bibliography. So far, he has published 65 novels—which is actually fewer than I would have guessed. He started in 1974 with Carrie and scored a hit right out of the gate. Lots of bestsellers followed. It’s 50 years of writing. Impressive—not just because of the hits, but because of the consistency.

King’s Twitter is a mess, his politics a joke. But I still admire him. I want to get there too.

My goal is four books a year. One every three months. It’s possible. But to get there I need to do more.

Last year, I wrote a lot. I started a simple experiment: write 1,000 words a day. I stuck with it for almost all 365 days. The result? Four finished books—and several more that never made it past the halfway point. The main issue: I didn’t take the time to edit any of them. I treated it more like a writing exercise than an author’s workflow.

But being an author isn’t just about writing—it’s about writing something you’re confident putting out into the world. That’s where plotting and editing come in. Two things I haven’t really focused on yet.

To consistently release a new book every three months, I need to work on both, establish a working process, optimize it, and invest the effort. Simply put: I need to do more.

I’ll continue using the 1K-a-day method for writing. But on top of that, I’ll dedicate at least one hour a day to plotting and editing. Will that be enough to fully prep a book for release every three months? I’m not sure yet. The next few months will tell. I’ll report here on the tools I use, the time it takes, possible adjustments, and the final results.

So stay tuned…