One of my favorite genres in literature aside from fantasy has to be the thriller genre. It also happens to be one of my favorites in movies and TV shows as well, and it tends to be a very popular genre in general. A thriller requires a lot of different elements besides just action, as there is suspense, unexpected twists, and an intense focus on emotion. For today’s post, I’ll be teaching you how to write a thriller novel and how to make sure that it’s engaging, interesting, and can captivate your readers.
(affiliate disclaimer: some of the links in this article are affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you).
What is a Thriller?
Before I talk about how to write a thriller, I want to discuss what a thriller actually is. Thrillers are types of stories that include common elements to invoke the “thrill” feeling of watching/reading them.
Firstly, thrillers include a lot of suspense, which I have talked about making a story more suspenseful before in another post on my blog. Suspense is really keeping your readers on the edge of their seats, making them question what’s about to happen constantly, and keeping them relatively in the dark on many things that are happening. It allows for the element of surprise, basically.
A thriller almost always has a story where the stakes involved are high. The main characters are often pitted into situations where they are facing threats or have some task to accomplish that poses a problem or could hinder them.
A thriller also usually includes a lot of twists in the story. Many times the writer will lead you down a path of thinking where you believe what’s going on is what your shown, but reality sings a very different tune. Plot twists keep thrillers more engaging and even more suspenseful, because you never know what the author could do next.
A thriller always usually includes fast pacing. The story needs to constantly include something happening, and that something is usually action. Yes, thriller stories include downtime, but a good thriller keeps the reader strung along a path of intense happenings and a usually intense plotline.
How to Create an Engaging Thriller
Start Your Story with a Hook
The first thing that you should do when it comes to your plot in order to make your thriller more engaging is to start out your story with a hook. This hook needs to immediately capture the attention of your readers and get them interested in what your story is going to be about. Besides the blurb on the back cover, the first page is probably the most important one in your book and you really need to make sure your hook is spot-on.
For example, this is an excerpt from The Housemaid and it’s the first line of the book:
“If I leave this house, it will be in handcuffs.”
Instantly, I think:
- Why?
- What did the main character do?
- What house is the main character in?
At this point, I’d keep reading to find out what’s next. This is what I mean by a hook.
Work on the Central Conflict
The next thing you need to focus on is the central conflict of your thriller. The central conflict needs to be something that involves high stakes and presents a genuine conflict for your main characters. It needs to drive the plot forward and it needs to be something that actually matters for the protagonist.
For instance, Malware, the first book of my series, The Fallen Age Saga, is not necessarily a thriller, but it does invoke a lot of elements from government thriller movies I’ve watched before. The main character, Blide Stevens, is recruited by the CIA to stop a serial killer, which confuses him because the CIA doesn’t do investigations like that. However, this serial killer uncovers a giant rabbit hole that he couldn’t have anticipated before, and it connects back to a conflict that he has a genuine involvement in.
Make Sure to Add Plenty of Twists and Turns
One of the things that keeps thrillers so exciting is the fact that the writers add a lot of twists and turns in the plot. Keeping you readers guessing and unable to anticipate certain points in your plot can really help to keep the story fresh and exciting. Of course, you definitely don’t want to overdo it, as overdoing it can actually hinder the reader’s experience rather than enhance it.
If you keep adding twists constantly, they’ll feel forced and even cheap.
Put Effort Into the Climax of the Story
The climax of your story is the most intense moment in the entire thriller. At this point, your main character will face their biggest challenge. This challenge should have a massive impact on your character, the character’s morals and ethics, personality, and ideas.
The climax is essentially the moment where all the conflict has built up and explodes in a single moment, so you really want to hone in on this part and don’t let up. Make the climax feel worth it to the reader.
Tie Up Loose Ends
Something you want to ensure when you’re getting to the end of your story is to wrap up the central conflict. Past this though, you also need to ensure that you wrap up any loose ends that are left. Oftentimes though, we authors spend so much time working with our manuscript that we accidentally overlook elements and plot points, leading to plotholes.
This is where beta readers can really come in handy. If you want to learn more about that, check out this post!
Thrillers are Usually Character-Driven
The Protagonist
The main character/protagonist is the central character of your story and is the one that readers will connect to the most. The protagonist does not have to be the “hero” of the story, but should still be relatable enough for the reader. Your main character must have a personal stake in the conflict and must have a motivation to either resolve it or interact with it in some way, shape, or form.
The protagonist of your story must be well-developed and interesting. It helps to have an idea of who your character is before you start writing. I recommend you check out this post for tips on outlining characters.
The Antagonist
Although the antagonist is often thought of as the villain of the story, that’s not accurate. Yes, the villain tends to be the antagonist in a lot of stories, but the antagonist is basically someone or something that stands in the way of the protagonist’s goals or poses a source of conflict for the main character.
If you end up going with a villain antagonist, you should check out this post on 12 villain archetypes that I absolutely recommend adding in your story. You should also read this post on the 7 literary conflict types to get a better understanding of what most stories use for conflict sources.
Other Characters
You don’t necessarily need to create other characters for a story, as it really ultimately depends on your story and what it requires. However, what is important is that if you are adding secondary characters, they also need to be fleshed out, expanded upon, and engaging for the readers.
Secondary characters should not be written just for the sake of adding random characters. Secondary characters need to serve some role in the story, such as being a companion for the main character, being a source of information, or something that propels the plot forward. They can also be secondary antagonists or secondary obstacles to the story, but don’t overdo them in this role, as your main antagonist is still the biggest obstacle your protagonist should be facing.
Suspense is KEY!
Although I’ve talked about suspense before in a different post, I’ll briefly go over some techniques you can use in your story to create a mood of suspense. The reason why is that suspense is probably the most important technique present in a thriller story.
A thriller is a thriller not just because it has action in it, but also because a thriller has suspense. Action mixed with suspense keeps the reader guessing and keeps them engaged, and that’s why I keep mentioning the idea of suspense when it comes to thrillers. I recommend you go watch a few thriller movies and read a few books in the thriller genre to get an idea of how this looks in application.
Cliffhangers are one way to add suspense to your story. The feeling of uncertainty and leaving your readers wondering what will happen next is definitely a big component of effective suspense. However, by cliffhangers, I don’t mean the end of the book–I mean throughout the book. Adding cliffhangers to the ends of chapters is a good practice, but don’t go too far with it and make every chapter a cliffhanger.
Adding false clues or misleading details that throws the main character off and even the reader off is a great way to add suspense to the story too. Also, keeping tension high in the story is great with suspense. You want to make sure the high stakes conflict is actually a high stakes conflict and you need to show the readers that the stakes are high.
The Setting is Very Important for a Thriller
The setting is where your story takes place and choosing a setting can be a little complicated sometimes because it depends on your story goals. However, it’s most certainly not impossible. The setting should serve as a way to enhance your story and add more to the overall mood, tone, and plot.
When it comes to a thriller, the setting is often eerie, dark, and has lots of elements to it. A lot of political thrillers will take place in a country’s capital, such as Washington D.C.. Some stories will take place in areas with a high population, such as New York City or Paris. If you’re making your thriller based in a fantasy story, then take inspiration from real locations and curate your fantasy setting around it.
The setting should ultimately serve your story and have a strong purpose in the plot.
General Writing Advice
For this post, I want to give some tailored advice for the writing, because writing a thriller requires some different techniques.
Firstly, shorter sentences and paragraphs with a “choppier” feel tend to do better in thrillers. You are keeping a quick pace and if you’re going too in-depth, it doesn’t keep the tension high in the story. Long, flowery descriptions are great for fantasy or sci-fi in general, but thrillers rely on fast pacing and constant change. That’s why you should prioritize including action. Now, don’t make your entire book written in short, choppy sentences. This is bad writing. You want to blend well and add a bit of this and that to create a healthy balance.
There is also the idea of show, don’t tell. I think that it’s a good method to keep in mind, but I don’t think it’s always necessary. You have to tell sometimes, you can just show. If you want to read more about show, don’t tell, check out this post.
For the most part, writing a thriller involves careful consideration of many story elements. I always recommend that you go ahead and seek books written in this genre to get an understanding of what makes a successful thriller successful. Beyond that, keeping in mind the ideas of suspense, tension, well-developed characters, and exciting phases of action and calms before the storm. The biggest thing is to keep readers hooked and on the edge of their seats.
Before you head on out, check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga and sign up for my newsletter to get updates on my latest works, posts and more!