Writing a Thriller: Challenge One for 2018

In another post I wrote about 2018 being The Year of Writing Dangerously. I meant it to mean you will challenge yourself to attempt what you’ve not tried before in the writing realm. For me, there are many paths to choose, and maybe I’ll go down more than one.

But there’s a part of me that is pulling hardest to write a thriller. Mysteries are but a hop, skip, and big jump from thrillers, after all. They are often grouped when you search for writing how-to books. Different but similar enough. After all, aren’t suspense book subgenres just strung along a continuum?

And domestic thrillers are hot, hot, hot. So the zeitgeist is there encouraging me to take the leap, too. So what’s holding me back?

Well, for one thing, I don’t write, have never written scary stories. And thrillers have to be scary in a way that mysteries often are not. Especially the cozies I write. There’s a level of tension cozies don’t reach. And the stakes are higher in thrillers. Often there are federal level investigators involved or government officials. Often there is a violent crime, but not always. But it’s always some serious stuff!

Thrillers are, well, thrilling. That is they make the reader feel intense emotions. Thrillers are most often about impending disaster. Often the villain is known early on and the tension arises from watching the unspeakable unfold. Waiting for someone, anyone to step in and stop the horror. The tension mounts as it appears the villain will triumph. There is no way to stop what is inevitable. Until there is.

A good thriller twists and turns in unpredictable ways that are always plausible, even if unanticipated. The ending is satisfying and conclusive, even if not happy. The logic of a thriller is the escalating tension to a breaking point.

I figured the first place to begin learning how to write a thriller is deconstructing some of the domestic thrillers I’ve enjoyed. Like The Talented Mr. Ripley, Gone Girl, and The Girl on the Train. Mystic River and Shutter Island. There are psychological thrillers as opposed to some other kinds of thrillers.

I personally am not interested in writing a spy thriller, military thriller, or a political thriller. Maybe I’d try a science fiction thriller since I have a nascent idea for one. But for me, the psychological thriller is the one I want to try. Psychological torture engages me more than physical torture or political intrigue.

Spy thrillers, political thrillers, and the others are more about the plot than having a character focus. Another kind of thriller is the comedy thriller which is personified by Fargo. It’s psychological thriller with an enormous violence factor and filled with black humor. These are dark shows that make you laugh and then feel bad about doing so. Even more talent is required to write a comedy thriller.

Standard psychological thrillers interest me most because they mess with your mind. In the psychological thriller, ordinary people are put into extraordinary circumstances and must try to find a way out. Along the way they undergo huge stressors. The pressure is unbearable, but they must bear it and find a way out. Imagine your baby being kidnapped and held for ransom. What could be worse? Or maybe someone from your hidden and secret past returns and blackmails you in escalating increments.

Other research I’m engaged in is discovering what makes for a scary story and what are the components of a thriller. How are they different? Alike?

One of my gurus, James Scott Bell wrote about the components of thrillers. His five C’s of thrillers are: Complex Characters, Confrontation, Careening (plot twists and turns), Coronary (readers experience scene emotions), and Communication (thrillers carry a message). Add to this list the inclusion of psychological manipulation and you get what I want to try.

Seems like a good framework to hang on the elements I am learning about, including the importance of the setting and atmosphere of the thriller and the importance of talismans/symbols that signal changes and hint at the message of the thriller. I want to use the unreliable narrator in my thriller. I am fascinated with the trope and want to give it a go.

It’s pretty obvious I’m not ready, yet, to start my thriller. But I am becoming more comfortable with its elements. Now all I need is a good premise and concept. Easy peasy!

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