Peter Swanson
Surprise the reader. Best way to surprise the reader is to find a way to surprise your characters.
Write worthy characters. They don’t have to be likable, but they need to be compelling and multi-faceted. The reader needs to care about them one way or another.
Have a great first chapter. This one is more important now, than ever. I love a slow burn thriller where nothing much happens for a while, but chances are, today’s readers won’t have the patience. Don’t start with backstory, start with action.
It’s all about the pace. It’s not that something exciting needs to happen every five pages, but make sure that the story is moving along at a good clip. Don’t get sidetracked.
Have more than one good idea. This isn’t a necessity but it sure helps. Maybe you have this great idea about friends that get together for the weekend and one of them gets killed, and maybe you have this other great idea about a group of girls who bullied a boy back in grade school. Put those two ideas together and see what happens.
Hobble your main character. Figure out what is most important for your protagonist, then take it away.
Make sure your thriller has thrills. This one seems obvious, I know, but everyone who loves thrillers has probably read a few in which nothing very thrilling happens. My fellow writer Rory Flynn calls these books “ers,” a thriller without thrills.
Not every chapter has to end with a cliffhanger. The thing is: if every chapter ends with the hero about to tumble over a cliff, it starts to get predictable, and the reader starts to tune out. Mix it up.
Give your story a detailed sense of place. It doesn’t have to be a wind-swept moor in England, but even if your story takes place in a subdivision of McMansions on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, make that location come to life.
Think outside of the box. Some conventions are fine, but try and get creative with the story you want to tell. Give your reader something they’ve never read before.
THE KIND WORTH KILLING by Peter Swanson is published by Faber on 5th February, £14.99.