How to Write a Thriller

Thrillers can be heart-stopping, un-put-downable, and sometimes downright shocking--if the author has written a good one. This genre is popular (and addicting) for a reason, but like all genres, requires unique skills and considerations to make the most of it. In this video, we're talking about writing a thriller, everything from word counts to story elements like plot twists and stakes.

LEARN MORE:

FIND REEDSY HERE:

RESOURCES:

[nancythompson]

I only write thrillers since it's my favorite genre to read. 3 published so far, another one on submission with my agent, and I'm working on my 5th. I put my poor characters through absolute hell in their quest, usually for vengeance, but there's typically some romance thrown in, as well.

[appledough]

Writing A Thriller
2:42 - Good Character Motive
3:30 - Start with Action
4:17 - Raise the Stakes
5:08 - Give Protagonist Huge Adversity
5:50 - Plot Twists:
Make the protagonist active in the twist, make plot twist exciting, make it important to the plot and character, what’s the worse thing that can happen?
7:37 - Story Climax
8:18 - Satisfying Ending

[RadarScreen]

With the emphasis you put on the plot twist, it seems an entire episode on The Thriller Plot Twist is merited.

[victorthurse]

"I am Mother" was an excellent, self-contained science fiction thriller. It had three characters. A simple dilemma, should the protagonist trust person A or person B.

[stefanienici]

I know this is an old video but we’ll worth the time. I am stepping away from contemporary romance and working on my first psychological thriller now!

[tubby]

My experience in writing thrillers is like a Ferris Wheel I can get 3-4 chapters in then I realize I don’t have a concrete plot and I feel like a fraud

[matt]

Im working on a psychological horror thriller now!

[nocturnus]

I just listened to my favorite thriller, The Jackpot Trilogy by William Gibson. (The Peripheral Agency & the 3rd unpublished book I'll assume will be The Jackpot). It is High Tech Science Fiction Thriller. But I think it illustrates the point about the difference between Mystery & Thriller. Before global lockdown & Social Quarantine, Mr. Gibson did a great talk over at Politics And Prose Just at Agency was published. The talk is available on the bookstore's YouTube channel.

[leggett]

That was helpful. I have started a crime thriller. Advancing the story line with plot twists is a bit challenging. Thanks again for your video and please keep the coming.

[syenindiaa]

OMG, this is what I've been waiting for. Thank you Shaelin and reedsy. I love it!

[melennyivette]

You should do a reedsy short story contest about a true life story of someone the writer knows, or the writer!

[helvetica]

Come to here because of school work (Everyone need to write a thriller that more than 250 words)
Thanks you Shaelin~

[David-dcnk]

Thank you! I wrote a psychological thriller that I am waiting for processing from the US Copyright Office.

"Pieces of Truth"

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Synopsis: Alice and her childhood crush Brian drift apart after witnessing the brutal murder of two classmates. Years later, Alice and Brian unexpectedly reunite in college only to have their renewed relationship become problematic when they both begin receiving bizarre messages from two people claiming to be their murdered friends from childhood.

Are their friends still alive and out for revenge?

Is someone playing a cruel joke on Alice and Brian?

Or is this a big misunderstanding?

[saltmine]

This video cleared up my confusion about the genre of my book. It is psychological thriller. I was considering it a contemporary fiction that focuses on mental illness. Thank you for this video ❤️

[solologokatweng]

I love this, I learned a lot as an aspiring writer. Thank you for sharing

[Noosa]

Great food for thought. Im writing a political thriller or at least thats the aim with my story line. Im inspired by movies like Disclosure and Official Secrets and so on. I really get a lot from your videos as you are easy to understand the concepts Im wanting to learn.

[JonathanPriesthood]

Oh, you are from Reedsy. I didn't realise that, but I thought you were familiar somewhere but it was on the Reedsy advert that I heard that voice and saw you.

[AndreaMerchak]

I'm a horror author, and my Bloody Series is a horror crime thriller. I have released two books and a prequel of the Series so far.
My favorite crime thriller series is the CSI Eddie Collins series by Andrew Barrett.

[luciabeyta]

I'm currently in the process of writing a thriller myself. I thought it would be a TV script originally but now I've decided to make it a book series. I normally write fantasy so I'm looking up how to write thrillers and stuff so I have some idea of how to go about it. I've had the idea for years so I know how I want it to work out and stuff. But I'm a thorough person when I approach something new so I'm doing research on how to write in the genre and reading more thriller and suspense type of books to get a better feel for it. It's been very interesting so far. Learned alot and I think I'm ready to tackle to situation

[LauraLanford]

I write about character deaths with an undying passion, so I'm writing a murder mystery now, but it's a young adult story! Somehow it's rare to see such types mixed together, usually thrillers are adult stories...