How on earth does an average person write a thriller?

[TheSecret]

It's a mystery in itself!

I love thrillers. I crave them. Devour them. But I can't write them myself without stealing all my favourite authors' ideas!!!!

As a young teenager I read teen romances. Only teen romances. As a young adult, I read only adult romances. And those were the kinds of stories I wrote and still write to this day.

However, several years ago I fell in love with thrillers. I love Dean Koontz, James Patterson, and more recently I am loving John Hart to bits . And it's honestly only just struck me that the reason why I can't finish a novel is because they're not exciting enough for me. They're all about relationships and angst but with no real substance. I'm writing romance-type stories when, in actual fact, I haven't been able to read a romance novel or watch a romance movie or chick-flick for years. I'm a thriller fan. I like mystery. Excitement. I may like it best with a bit of romance thrown in but it still has to be a thriller that's gripping, page-turning.

So, like I say, it struck me that I'm writing books that I wouldn't actually want to read !!!!!!

But my huge problem is, I have no idea how to craft a thriller without my mysterious hero being in witness protection (seen that a million times!) or my storyline stealing everything from other people. My only experience of crime, or police work, etc., is from the books I love and the movies I've seen (which is good, I suppose, but not very helpful!).

Am I doomed to writing thrillers without the thrills? Can any of you help me with this? I love to write. I love to get lost in it. Nothing makes me happier. But I feel like I've bored myself into staring at a blank screen.

Any tips? Words of advice? Articles that will help kick-start my plagiarising brain into have an idea that I could run with? Have any of you ever felt like this?

I look forward to hearing from you

Gracias.


TS x

[mammamaia]

first of all, no 'average' person writes a good thriller, imo... it takes a certain kind of mindset to be able to craft a good suspense story, come up with plots that will work, scenes that will 'thrill' and characters who'll be believable...

Any tips? Words of advice? Articles that will help kick-start my plagiarising brain into have an idea that I could run with?

sorry to say, one either has that brand of 'little grey cells' or one doesn't... i don't think people can be taught how to have good story ideas and that's where writing marketable stories/novels of any genre must begin... you can find lots of articles and books on how to write this or that, but if you don't have original [or at least 'fresh' or 'different' enough] story ideas, the 'how to write' stuff won't help...

Have any of you ever felt like this?

thankfully, no...

[mfarraday]

practice, to start off. start SMALL. write a thriller in a page or two. condense it down to a very small bite sized story. flash fiction is a good way to flex your writing chops...then, as you gain experience, expand to larger pastures - a chapter - then a novel. if you have ideas, you can do it.

[James A. Ritchie]

Read newspapers, watch the national and local news channels, etc. This is where great ideas for thrillers originate.

I do believe actual experience helps. I do believe that the more a writer has gone through, the more a writer has done along the lines of action, violence, etc., the easier it will be to make a novel sound realistic, but as they say, if you can't use your own experience, you can always use someone else's.

But the main point, I think, is to be well-informed. Reading as many thrillers as possible is a must, but you can't draw on them for ideas. You read to learn structure, pace, characterization, etc. Ideas you should try to get elsewhere.

I would, however, also say that ideas are pretty much meaningless. It isn't the idea that makes a great novel, or where you get it, it's how well you write tthe novel, how well you draw the characters, how well you tell a story.

You say that the witness protection scheme has been used a million times, and you're right, so this should tell you something. It's been used so many times because it works, but it isn't used the same way each time, or with the same results. Few thrillers are about the witness protection program. Writers just use it as a trope, as a starting point, and there's nothing wrong with you using it, either.

You just have to add your own take on it, your own fresh, original story resulting from its use.

The main thing is to pick a character, all good thrillers begin with a good character, find any idea you like, jump right into the action, and keep the action coming. Take something out of the news, or just pick something. For instance, once you have a character, have him on vacation if Florida. He's sitting on the beach, idly digging in the sand while he watches the bikini clad women. His hand touches something in the sand, and he digs it out. It's a gold medallion with writing on both sides. It's in a language he doesn't know.

He takes it to an antique shop. Then someone breaks into his hotel room. Then someone tries to kill him. Just take it from there. Keep the action, the thrills coming. If you do tis, you can have romance, relationships, and whatever, as subplots. But keep teh action coming right from page one.

But the most important thing is to finish the novel. The way you learn to write any kind of novel is by writing them. You don;t learn by planning, by researching, by plotting, etc. You learn by starting a novel, and by finishing it. Then you write a second one. Like the first, you start it with a character and any idea, and then you finish it.

[TerryRodgers]

I remember James saying more than once that there are no new ideas, just new ways of writing them. Or something like that. And he's right. There's been millions of novels written. That means every idea known to mankind has been used. Even Dan Brown's mega hit "The Di Vinci Code" was nothing more than a new twist on an idea that was in at least one other novel. Dan just took the idea, created his own characters, and wrote an incredible story. Think of all the novels that have been written based on:

* Evil person wants to take over the world
* Virus that threatens to wipe out everyone on the planet
* Man is charged with a crime he didn't commit and the investigator has to find out who the real criminal is
* Serial killer is on the loose and the cop of detective has to find the killer before he kills again
* Someone finds a treasure map to the greatest treasure ever, but people will kill for it
* Washington Conspiracies
* Vampires, witches and werewolves

Where does this leave you? Just write what you want to write. Read, Read, Read. Did I say read. And if you read something that gives you an idea, then write about it. You're not stealing unless you steal the actual words and characters.

[LMGilbert]

I'm not too much into thrillers, so feel free to ignore my opinions.... BUT....

You could start with what you know and are comfortable with, maybe a little bored with... Romance! And twist it up with some unsightly & unexpected action/thrills/mystery. You could question & challenge assumptions (your own & other peoples') about what makes a thriller thrilling... DOES it always have to be about police work, or crime, or supernatural nasties, or complex spy business?

As mentioned by others on this topic, old & overworn ideas can be given new life & energy by the right writer or artist. I think it was either Picasso or one of his cronies who said "Bad artists borrow; good artists steal." Whoever it was, was not talking about plain old plagiarism or copying. I think they mean if you're going to use something that's been done a million times, then YOUR take on it has to be brazenly bold and poppingly fresh.

[TheSecret]

Thank you so much for your replies. They've given me lots to think about and I'm going to start right now with the flash fiction suggestion before trying my hand at writing something longer and more complex.

I'm fired up about writing for the first time in ages and that's thrilling to me

Much appreciated.


TS x

[Ben Reader]

If you are really serious about it, start researching. You can learn from great thrillers written by great authors. Study how they made their works successful.

It is a learning process though. Even after working so hard, you cannot guarantee that it will be a hit. Here are a few tips:

1. Outline the plot. What is the story about? Think of interesting twists that will be interesting to your reader.
2. Build your characters. Describe how they are. Give them personality. Describe their strengths and flaws.
3. Ask a trusted and credible person to read your story and critique it.

Hope that helps..