Dan Brown: Biography, Fast Facts and Complete Works

Dan Brown is the author of numerous novels, including The Da Vinci Code, which has become one of the bestselling novels of all time. Born in Exeter, New Hampshire, Dan is the son of a mathematics teacher and a church organist. Raised on the prep school campus where his father taught, he developed a fascination with the paradoxical interplay between science and religion. These themes eventually formed the backdrop for his books. Dan graduated from Amherst College and Phillips Exeter Academy, where he later returned to teach English before focusing his full attention on writing.

Published in 2003, Dan’s breakout novel The Da Vinci Code quickly rose to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. In 2005, Dan was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME magazine, whose editors credited him with “keeping the publishing industry afloat; renewed interest in Leonardo da Vinci and early Christian history; and a growing membership in secret societies.”

Dan Brown is one of the most accomplished authors of the twenty-first century. Here are some quick facts about his life and career:

1. 1. He’s a songwriter. Before writing one of the bestselling novels of all time, Dan pursued a career as a songwriter. In 2013, he released a children’s book with accompanying songs he composed.
2. 2. He wrote the bestselling book of all time. Since its release in 2003, Dan’s critically acclaimed bestseller, The Da Vinci Code, has sold more than 200 million copies worldwide.
3. 3. His first three books weren’t very popular. Although Dan’s first three novels had little success upon their initial releases, after he published The Da Vinci Code, all four of his novels appeared on bestseller lists within the same week.
4. 4. He has a pseudonym. In 1995, Dan coauthored a humor book with his wife, Blythe Newton: 187 Men to Avoid: A Survival Guide for the Romantically Frustrated Woman. Dan and Blythe published the book under the pseudonym Danielle Brown.

Become a better writer with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Dan Brown, Neil Gaiman, Walter Mosley, Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, and more.

In nineteen lessons, Dan Brown provides insight into the process of writing a novel, from developing the elements of a story to navigating life as a writer. Here are four highlights from his class:

1. 1. Write what you want to know. Most writing teachers instruct young writers to “write what you know,” but Dan says, “you’ve actually got write what you want to know. Find what’s interesting to you. Go out and research it. And your enthusiasm, as you research this new material, is going to help inspire you to do the hard work of writing a novel.” According to Dan, researching a topic of personal interest will also make your novel more attractive to the reader. “If you’re excited about this new information, it will come through in your writing. The best advice I can give any aspiring writer is to choose a topic, choose a world that you’re excited about. Maybe you don’t know about it today. But you might start learning about it tomorrow.” Learn more about finding the idea that inspires you.
2. 2. Suspense is all about making promises. One of the main ways to create tension in a thriller is to put questions into the minds of your readers. “The kind of thrillers I like to read, and, therefore, the kind of thrillers I like to write are thrillers that ask a lot of questions very quickly and, also, give answers very, very quickly,” he says. When you’re writing your book, it’s absolutely critical that you put in as many questions as you can toward the front of a book, but simultaneously, that you answer them at a rate that doesn’t leave your reader confused or wondering, Am I ever gonna get the answer to this? He calls these questions promises, and they’re an essential part of the anatomy of a thriller. “Suspense is all about making promises,” he adds. “It’s about telling a reader, ‘I know something you don’t know. And I promise, if you turn the page, I’m gonna tell you.’”
3. 3. Protect the process. Early in Dan’s career, he was overwhelmed by the amount of work that writing a novel entails. “I heard a great piece of advice, and I put it on a sticky note and I stuck it to my computer, and it basically said, ‘Protect the process and the results will take care of themselves.’ And all that means is that your job is not necessarily to write a novel. Your job is to get up every day, put yourself in the chair, do the very, very best that you can to create a novel, and eventually, the pages will pile up and you’ll have a novel.” Get Dan’s tips on protecting your process.
4. 4. The process itself needs to be the reward. Although Dan’s first novel, Digital Fortress, eventually found an audience, it didn’t debut to great acclaim. In fact, at his first book signing, nobody showed up. “And what I learned from that moment was that the process itself needs to be the reward,” he says. “You can’t be striking out saying, ‘If I don’t sell X number of books, I’ve failed.’ You need to love the process of writing a novel and understand that it takes time to build a readership. That your first novel almost invariably will sell very few copies. You have to love what you do and do it for the sake of writing, do it for the sake of sharing a story with your readers. And then, in the same way that you are committed to your story from beginning to end, be committed to the process of building your career, of building an audience. Just because your first book doesn’t sell doesn’t mean your second won’t.”

Dan Brown is known for his action-packed stories that blend scientific and religious influence. Some of his most notable novels include:

1. 1. Digital Fortress (1998): Dan’s first novel follows protagonist Susan Fletcher, who is determined to solve the mystery of a dangerous computer program before it ruins peoples’ lives. It speaks to Dan’s interest in cryptology and code-cracking, both themes that many of his other works would center on. While Dan was teaching at Phillips Exeter Academy, the United States Secret Service interviewed a student after joking about killing the president. This incident sparked some of Brown’s earliest interest in covert intelligence agencies.
2. 2. Angels & Demons (2000): This novel marks the debut of one of Dan Brown’s most significant characters, Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbology professor who appears in many of Brown’s subsequent novels. The book follows Robert Langdon as he unravels the conspiracies of the Illuminati—a secret society and enemy of the Catholic Church—directed against the Vatican. In 2009, director Ron Howard made the book into a feature film starring Tom Hanks.
3. 3. Deception Point (2001): This is another work of Brown’s that blends action with science, politics, and conspiracy theories. The book follows intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton when she is sent to the Arctic by NASA to investigate a meteorite. She discovers a conspiracy pointing to an unforgivable deception threatening not only her life but the rest of the country.
4. 4. The Da Vinci Code (2003): The Da Vinci Code, the second installment of the Robert Langdon series, is one of the best-selling novels of all time, selling more than 80 million copies worldwide and landing at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list during its first week of release. In this story, symbologist Robert teams up with French police cryptologist Sophie Neveu to decipher Da Vinci’s paintings and reveal a religious mystery—that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were married and had a child together. The Da Vinci Code also became a feature film, which grossed over 600 million dollars worldwide.
5. 5. The Lost Symbol (2009): This is the third novel in the Robert Langdon series, following the professor as he attempts to decode a series of puzzles associated with the freemasons, a secret society. Publisher Random House printed more than five million copies in its first print run, making it one of the largest in history. Much like some of Brown’s prior novels, the publication of this book broke sales records, selling over one million copies on its first day of release.
6. 6. Inferno (2013): Inferno is the fourth installment of the Robert Langdon series. In the book, Robert is drawn into a high-level plot that focuses on Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, one of the most significant works of Medieval literature. Inferno was also made into a movie in 2016, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks.
7. 7. Origin (2017): In the fifth installment of the Robert Langdon series, Robert investigates the mysterious assassination of a wealthy researcher who explored the origin of all human life.
8. 8. Wild Symphony (2020): Wild Symphony is Dan Brown’s first children’s book. The picture book follows an orchestra of musically inclined animals, led by Maestro Mouse. Readers can listen along to a series of songs composed by Dan that are accessible via a smartphone app.

Finish your novel with guidance from these world-renowned authors:

1. 1. David Baldacci on mystery and thriller writing: David Baldacci is the New York Times–bestselling author of 38 thrillers to date. In his class, David walks you through his daily practice of looking at the world through what he calls the “writer’s prism.” David’s class offers rare insight into the inner workings of the publishing world, including how to find an agent, how to navigate rights, and how to promote your book.
2. 2. N. K. Jemisin on fantasy and science fiction writing: N. K. Jemisin—Nora Keita Jemisin—is the three-time Hugo Award–winning author of The Broken Earth Trilogy. Nora’s class teaches you how to create diverse characters, build a world from scratch, and get published.
   
3. 3. Walter Mosley on fiction and storytelling: In his class, bestselling author Walter Mosley teaches you how to rethink genres and the “rules” of fiction and how to approach writing your own novel. Watch Walter’s class to learn what it takes to create a strong character using Walter’s most famous protagonist, private investigator Easy Rawlins.

Before publishing his groundbreaking thriller The Da Vinci Code, bestselling author Dan Brown struggled to find an audience for his work, but his persistence paid off. Get Dan Brown’s best writing advice—from how to write good dialogue and the importance of setting to surviving life as a writer—when you sign up for the MasterClass Annual Membership.

Become a better writer with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Dan Brown, Neil Gaiman, Walter Mosley, Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, and more.