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  Writing a Killer Thriller

  An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction

  Second Edition

  Jodie Renner

  “When it comes to fiction techniques,

  Jodie Renner knows her stuff. She’s the real deal.”

  ~ D.P. Lyle, MD, Macavity Award-winning and Edgar Award-nominated author of many non-fiction and fiction books

  Copyright © Jodie Renner, 2013

  Praise for Writing a Killer Thriller:

  “Finally, someone who understands the thriller! More than ever an author must also be his own best editor and Jodie Renner is there to help. Writing a Killer Thriller should be on every thriller writer’s desk. It breaks down the thriller into its must-have component parts to write a scintillating, edge of the seat novel that will get readers buzzing and sales flowing.”

  ~ Robert Dugoni, New York Times bestselling author of thrillers

  “Writing a Killer Thriller by Jodie Renner is an in-depth journey through each component of the thriller. Renner breaks down the process into key elements, each essential to keeping the reader turning those pages. From character development to building suspense, Writing a Killer Thriller should be on the desk of every thriller author out there. A staple for the beginner, a refresher for the pro.”

  ~ Joe Moore, #1 Amazon and international bestselling co-author of The Shield, The Blade and The Phoenix Apostles

  “Writing is hard, editing harder, and self-editing almost impossible. Writing a Killer Thriller demystifies each of these steps on the road to a published manuscript. Read this book. It will help you now and for many years to come.”

  ~ DP Lyle, Macavity Award winning and Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Benjamin Franklin, Scribe, and USA Best Books nominated author of the Dub Walker thriller series

  “...for writers of this genre, this book is or should be the ultimate authoritative resource. You seemed to cover every aspect of the genre. [...]This book will save a new writer so much time in learning the craft. You did a great job with the structure and format in this book. You’ve got enough white space to make it easy to read. While the whole process of writing this type of story seems intimidating, you’ve made the individual parts understandable. Your before-and-after examples show the most difficult-to-grasp techniques and concepts clearly and concisely. [...] What a great resource for a thriller reader!”

  ~ Judge, Writer’s Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards, 2013

  “A killer of a thriller guide! Jodie Renner lays out, in clear, easy steps and lists, how the best writers craft their works of art – and shows how you can do it, too. A terrific how-to in avoiding the pitfalls and burnishing the gotta-haves of writing a bestselling thriller novel, by an editor who knows her way around action, drama and creating characters so fresh and real you’ll swear they were your friends.”

  ~ Shane Gericke, bestselling author of Torn Apart, Blown Away, and The Fury

  “Jodie Renner is a terrific fiction editor who is constantly updating her craft. She’s edited several novels for me, and I highly recommend her services and books. Even if you don’t write thrillers, her advice is applicable to writing a compelling story in almost any genre.”

  ~ L.J. Sellers, bestselling author of provocative mysteries and thrillers

  “With years of experience as a professional editor to many successful authors, Renner knows what it takes to write a good thriller, and she lays it all out here in a no-nonsense, easy-to-understand manner. From building excitement and suspense on every page, to adding tension and conflict to each chapter, this book is packed with information you simply can’t afford to miss if you want to gain that ever-elusive competitive edge in the world of fiction.”

  ~ Andrew E. Kaufman, #1 bestselling author of Darkness & Shadows, Twisted, The Lion, the Lamb, the Hunted and While the Savage Sleeps

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Introduction

  Part I – WHAT’S A THRILLER, ANYWAY?

  Chapter 1 – Thrillers versus Mysteries

  Chapter 2 – Know the Basic Ingredients of a Killer Thriller

  – What a Thriller Needs

  – High-Concept Fiction

  – How and Where to Start

  – Ideas, Premise, What-ifs, Storyline

  Part II – DESIGN A KILLER PLOT

  Chapter 3 – Build Your Story on a Solid Foundation

  – The Hero’s Journey

  – The Classic Three-Act Structure – Beginning, Middle, and End

  – Gustav Freytag’s Five-Act Dramatic Structure

  – Nigel Watts’ Eight-Point Story Arc

  Chapter 4 – Avoid These Plot and Structure Gaffes

  – Plot and Structure No-No’s to Find and Fix

  Part III – CREATE COMPELLING CHARACTERS

  Chapter 5 – Invent a Charismatic but Conflicted Hero

  – Attributes of a Bestselling Hero or Heroine

  Chapter 6 – Devise a Worthy Antagonist

  – Create a Cunning, Determined Villain

  Part IV – HOOK ’EM & KEEP ’EM WITH TENSION AND INTRIGUE

  Chapter 7 – Craft a Killer Opening

  – Essential Ingredients of a Gripping Opening

  Chapter 8 – Avoid These Storytelling Gaffes

  – Checklists of Do’s and Don’ts

  Chapter 9 – Put Tension on Every Page

  – Tips for Adding Tension

  Chapter 10 – Write Riveting Scenes and Chapters

  – Every Scene Needs Tension and a Change

  Part V – BRING YOUR CHARACTERS TO LIFE ON THE PAGE

  Chapter 11 – Powerful Point of View

  – Use Deep Point of View

  – Use Multiple Viewpoints

  Chapter 12 – Show, Don’t Tell

  – How to Show instead of Telling

  – Evoke All Five Senses

  – Show Your Character’s Reactions and Emotions

  PART VI: SUSTAIN THE SUSPENSE

  Chapter 13 – Build in Tension and Intrigue

  – Some “Big-Picture” Techniques for Adding Suspense

  Chapter 14 – Use Foreshadowing for Maximum Reader Involvement

  – Devices for Amping up the Tension and Suspense

  – Foreshadowing

  Chapter 15 – Delay, Tease, and Stretch out the Moment

  – Withholding Information, Delays

  – Stretching out the Moment

  Chapter 16 – Twists, Surprises, Epiphanies, & Revelations

  – Epiphanies

  – Revelations

  Chapter 17 – Story Climax, Resolution, and Ending

  – Knock ’Em Dead with a Kick-Ass Climax

  – Create a Memorable, Satisfying Ending

  Part VII – REVISE FOR SUCCESS

  Chapter 18 – Revising for Power

  – Style and Pacing for Tension and Intrigue

  Chapter 19 –Structural Tips for Amping up Tension & Intrigue

  – Cliffhangers

  – Jump cuts

  Chapter 20 – Rivet Your Readers with Savvy Sentence Structure and Spacing

  – Style tricks for keeping your readers’ interest and attention

  Chapter 21 – Tighten Your Writing and Pick up the Pace

  – Tips for Writing Tighter

  – Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules for Writing

  Part VIII – WRAP-UP & CHECKLISTS

  Chapter 22 – Wrap-Up: Essential Elements of a Bestselling Thriller

  Chapter 23 – Checklist for Ratcheting up the Tension and Suspense

  PART IX – OTHER RELATED INFO

  Appendix A – Glossary of Fiction Terms

  Appendix B – Subgenres of Thrillers

  Appendix C – Resources for Thriller Writers

&
nbsp; A Few Words from the Author

  About the Author

  Other Books by Jodie Renner

  Acknowledgments

  Copyright

  Sample Chapter from Fire up Your Fiction

  Sample Chapter from Captivate Your Readers

  Newsletter Sign-Up Form

  Other Books by Jodie Renner:

  ~ Fire up Your Fiction – An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Stories Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk

  ~ Captivate Your Readers – An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk

  ~ Quick Clicks: Word Usage – Precise Word Choices at Your Fingertips Amazon.com , Amazon.ca , Amazon.co.uk

  ~ Quick Clicks: Spelling List – Commonly Misspelled Words at Your Fingertips Amazon.com , Amazon.ca , Amazon.co.uk

  Anthologies for Charity, Compiled & Edited by Jodie Renner:

  ~ Voices from the Valleys – Stories & Poems about Life in BC's Interior 51 contributors. All net proceeds to Doctors Without Borders

  Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk

  ~ Childhood Regained – Stories of Hope for Asian Child Workers

  19 contributors. All net proceeds to SOS Children’s Villages

  Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk

  INTRODUCTION

  Whether you’re planning your first novel or revising your fourth, you’ll discover lots of concrete ideas here for taking your fiction up a level or two, captivating readers, and gaining fans. Both published and aspiring authors of fast-paced, popular fiction will find these tips indispensable for plotting a riveting story and creating compelling characters, then writing a gripping opening and designing suspenseful scenes. And the reader-friendly format makes it easy to zoom in on specific advice, with examples, for picking up the pace, ramping up the tension and intrigue, revising for power, and creating a page-turner that sells.

  As a freelance editor who specializes in thrillers and other suspenseful, fast-paced fiction, when I’m not editing, I’m reading bestselling novels, especially suspense-thrillers, or poring over my numerous craft-of-fiction books by industry “gurus” like Donald Maass, James Scott Bell, Jessica Page Morrell, Stephen King, James N. Frey, Jack M. Bickham, and many others. The topics in this book arose from my critical reading of fast-paced fiction, analyzing ideas expressed by leaders in the field, and my editing of thrillers and other fiction.

  My companion guides to this one, Fire up Your Fiction and Captivate Your Readers, are both available in both e-book and trade paperback. Also, my two handy e-resources for busy writers, Quick Clicks: Word Usage – Precise Word Choices at Your Fingertips and Quick Clicks: Spelling List – Commonly Misspelled Words at Your Fingertips are both quick and easy time-savers filled with clickable internal links, so you can instantly jump to any words and terms you’d like to verify.

  If you find this book helpful, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to write a review under it on Amazon. And if you have any comments or suggestions for this or future books, please email me at: [email protected].

  Thanks, and keep on writing! I look forward to reading your thriller!

  ~ Jodie Renner

  Jodie’s Editing Website; Jodie’s Author Site; Jodie’s Blog; Jodie’s group blog, The Kill Zone (2013-2015).

  Newsletter sign-up form: Please CLICK HERE to sign up to receive occasional newsletters (3-6 times a year) with links to articles, books, and other valuable resources for writers. Your contact information will not be shared with anyone else or used for spamming in any way.

  Back to TOC

  PART I

  WHAT’S A THRILLER, ANYWAY?

  Chapter 1

  THRILLERS VERSUS MYSTERIES

  Until fairly recently, most readers were more familiar with mysteries than thrillers. Mysteries of all sorts (cozy, hardboiled, suspenseful, etc.) are still going strong, but thrillers make up more and more of the bestsellers these days. How exactly do thrillers differ from mysteries, anyway? Both are fiction stories involving criminal activity, catching the bad guy(s), and at least one murder.

  Two main differences stand out. First, in a mystery, neither the reader nor the protagonist knows who the killer is. The whole idea is to figure out “whodunit,” then apprehend the bad guy. In a thriller, the reader often knows who the villain is early on, and sometimes the hero does too. The object is for the hero to outwit and stop the killer before he kills others, including the hero, or endangers the world. Also, in mysteries, the protagonist is not usually in danger, whereas in thrillers, the protagonist is almost always directly threatened, fighting for his life as he matches wits with a clever, determined, amoral villain.

  The other main difference between mysteries and thrillers is in the delivery—how they are told. Mysteries are usually more cerebral, for readers who enjoy solving puzzles, whereas thrillers are more heart-pounding, adrenaline-raising, appealing to the emotions and a yearning for excitement, a desire to vicariously confront danger and defeat nasty villains. A mystery, especially a “cozy” one, can unfold in a leisurely fashion, but thrillers need to be much more fast-paced and suspenseful.

  David Morrell, author of about 30 thrillers, explored the difference between mysteries and thrillers several years ago. His detailed description included this: “Traditional mysteries appeal primarily to the mind and emphasize the logical solution to a puzzle. In contrast, thrillers strive for heightened emotions and emphasize the sensations of what might be called an obstacle race and a scavenger hunt.”

  James N. Frey, author of How to Write a Damn Good Thriller and How to Write a Damn Good Mystery, among other “damn good” books on writing, says, “In the United States, mysteries are not considered to be thrillers, though they share some common elements.” Frey describes the differences like this: “In a mystery, the hero has a mission to find a killer. In a thriller, the hero has a mission to foil evil.”

  Frey goes on to elaborate, “a thriller is a story of a hero who has a mission to foil evil. Not just a hero—a clever hero. Not just a mission—an ‘impossible’ mission. An ‘impossible’ mission that will put our hero into terrible trouble.”

  According to International Thriller Writers, a thriller is characterized by “the sudden rush of emotions, the excitement, sense of suspense, apprehension, and exhilaration that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace.”

  ITW defines thrillers as a genre in which “tough, resourceful, but essentially ordinary heroes are pitted against villains determined to destroy them, their country, or the stability of the free world.”

  Part of the allure of thrillers, they say, comes from not only what their stories are about but also how they are told. “High stakes, nonstop action, plot twists that both surprise and excite, settings that are both vibrant and exotic, and an intense pace that never lets up until the adrenaline-packed climax.”

  Here are some distinctions James Scott Bell makes between the two genres in his book Conflict & Suspense:

  Mystery = Who did it?

  Suspense = Will it happen again?

  Mystery is about “figuring it out.”

  Suspense is about “keeping safe.”

  Mystery is a puzzle.

  Suspense is a nightmare.

  Mysteries ask, “What will the lead character find next?”

  Suspense asks, “What will happen next to the lead character?”

  I asked some friends, clients, and colleagues what they thought the main differences were between these two genres. According to my client, thriller and horror writer Allan Leverone, “The definition I like best is this: In a mystery, the crime has already been committed, but the hero and the reader must figure out by whom. In a thriller, the crime (at least the biggie) hasn’t been committed yet, but the reader knows who the bad guy is; the question is whether he can be stopped.”

  Mystery and romance writer Terry Odell says, “The best definition I’ve heard is that in a mystery, you’re one step behind the d
etective, since you don’t know anything until he does. In suspense, you’re one step ahead, because you know things that the detective [or hero] can’t know.” This is especially true when we get into the viewpoint of the villain.

  My friend, popular suspense-mystery and thriller writer, LJ Sellers, tells me she recently read that in a thriller, the villain drives the story. That contrasts with a mystery, in which the protagonist drives the story.

  And finally, another friend and colleague, bestselling thriller and horror writer Andrew E. Kaufman says, “Here’s a less conservative, completely off-color definition, coming from a less conservative, completely off-color mind: A thriller is like mystery on Viagra. Everything’s more amped up, fast-paced, and frenetic. A good thriller should keep your heart racing, your fingers swiping at the pages, and your rear on the edge of its seat. Of course, those lines can be blurred. Many authors straddle the fence between the two. Nothing is in black and white, and gray is a beautiful color.”

  It’s true that some thrillers have a lot of elements of mysteries in them, and vice-versa. Some fast-paced suspense-mysteries that seem to straddle both genres include Robert Crais’s Joe Pike and Elvis Cole stories and Harlan Coben’s Myron Bolitar series.

  I used to read a lot of mysteries, and still do from time to time, but in the last few years I much prefer the excitement and pulse-pounding suspense of thrillers. My favorite thriller writers these days include bestselling authors Robert Crais, Sandra Brown, Lee Child, Karin Slaughter, Michael Connelly, Nora Roberts, Harlan Coben, Lisa Gardner, Dean Koontz, Lisa Scottoline, John Grisham, Allison Brennan, Janet Evanovich, and many more.