Questions tagged [thriller]

This tag should be used for questions about the genre of thriller, which is defined as trying to elicit suspense and anxiety in the reader, such as questions about phrasing something so that the reader will feel "on edge".

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
2 votes
1 answer
470 views

How to add the “thriller” in a supernatural thriller?

I’ve had this idea for awhile now and would love to start planning and writing it but I don’t know how to make it a supernatural thriller. I know how to write the supernatural part. Basically, the ...
Kailah's user avatar
  • 103
0 votes
0 answers
32 views

Is inconsistent tone in a thriller always a bad thing?

I've heard that changing tone is a bad thing, because we're expected to remain consistent in tone, but I am wondering if this is really true and if there can be exception to the rule. For example, in ...
Sayaman's user avatar
  • 14.9k
0 votes
0 answers
215 views

How to write a good coup d'état scene?

I'm writing a story with a coup d'état scene where a free nation's government is betrayed and supplanted by a new tyrannical government; and thus, I'd like to know how quality coup d'état scenes are ...
Jarren_Takar's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
97 views

If one is in a hall of mirrors, at a carnival for example, would this sentence make sense, or is kaleidoscope incorrect (Also Me's?)

I have this sentence in a flash fiction. My alpha/beta readers are unsure if the wording is correct, and I am starting to doubt myself. As I entered, I picked a mirror ahead of me and locked eyes ...
Mikayla's user avatar
  • 11
1 vote
1 answer
164 views

How to accurately write a post-nuclear winter novel in which supplies are limited? [closed]

The story I'm writing is a post-nuke winter novel in which the MC is born into a "safe dome" where the resources are limited. They have no animals for food and the only crops they have are ...
Confusing Fungus's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
160 views

Help with writing a character snap

In my story, the main character is being sexually abused by her teacher. Her life is severely screwed up from no father, mother being too busy for her, etc. The inciting event is when the a new girl ...
fern's user avatar
  • 11
20 votes
5 answers
5k views

How to include deliberate inconsistencies without it seeming like lazy or bad writing?

I'm writing a thriller (scifi/supernatural) and have a race of characters who can bend reality. They've come to earth with the intent of purging humanity. They can do it, but they have limitations. ...
aurorajack's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
161 views

Cleaning up a crime scene and its evidence

If a crime scene is cleaned up well, what possible evidence would still be found if they managed somehow to clean up the blood, discard the murder weapon, and hide the body? Is it possible for a ...
Crimsoir's user avatar
  • 1,113
0 votes
2 answers
62 views

Aside from military, how do I write strategy in seemingly ordinary settings (something going on beneath the surface)?

The question says it all, but the only results I'm getting are battlefield scenarios that wouldn't translate well into the themes of my own story--which is more about escape, scheming, tactics, ...
Yuyuuko's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
68 views

Chapters in my thriller before the main threat comes in

I'm writing a thriller about some people that have their whole world change around them. I won't bog this question down with lengthy specifics though. The world my characters inhabit isn't exactly ...
Leviathann's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
4k views

What is the average word count for a scene in a chapter?

Does the average scene-word-count lessen for a YA/children's novel and increase for, say, an adult thriller?
Frank Feldman's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
237 views

How much realism do I put into a war simulation story for Young Adults?

I am writing an action/thriller light novel for YA audience. The story involves characters "playing" in a war-simulation game in an extremely realistic and full immersive Virtual Reality. By "full ...
Kale Slade's user avatar
  • 2,653
7 votes
4 answers
281 views

What makes "thrilling" writing?

I am writing a thriller, but even though it is filled with exciting events, it is starting to feel boring to me. My Scenario: This girl (Freya) has amnesia and the doctor that is helping her(Lana) ...
Yass Meen's user avatar
  • 370
7 votes
3 answers
226 views

Can a mystery novel have more than one mystery in it? And does it have to be a "who dunnit" concept?

I am writing a novel and it goes something like this: In the first half of the novel, the protagonist knows who is doing the killing, but they are trying to make sense of it as in "how are they doing ...
Kora Middleson's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
1k views

Best way to write chilling, short thriller/horror without getting gory in a natural setting?

What are the tricks to writing short, chilling stories that don't resort to blood or cliched monsters, in a setting in nature of hunter/hunted? EDIT: While this edit isn't meant to invalidate any of ...
FoxElemental's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
1k views

Antagonist lacks motivation - where do I find it?

My triller has an Antagonist who is classified as a sociopath and narcissist. He becomes infatuated with my MC who is an Ex-Army sergeant making a living in close protection services. He sees that ...
Karma's user avatar
  • 121
0 votes
2 answers
97 views

Thriller sub-genre

Is there a genre that could be called "Safe Thriller"? It seems that all thriller novels are R rated. A PG rated thriller could still be engaging and serious without gross content. Similar to a "Cozy ...
Claude's user avatar
  • 1
-1 votes
1 answer
56 views

how much pages do i have for a paperback book [duplicate]

I'm making a book and I already wrote 54,099 and 278,889 characters how much pages do I have for a paper back or hard back book
whiskerstick48's user avatar
3 votes
5 answers
147 views

How do I create tension around a threat which isn't immediately, personally harmful?

I'm at the end of chapter 1 of my book, where the protagonist (a cyberterrorist) commits his first terror attacks by attacking the servers of a power plant and a government at the same time. My ...
DarkYagami's user avatar
  • 1,005
1 vote
2 answers
212 views

How can I learn to write thrillers?

I'm newbie in writing books. How can I learn to write thrillers? There are books to learn how to write, and other resources. But how can I learn to specifically write thrillers? What skills do I ...
Prabhu Natarajan's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
243 views

What are the 3 all-time best-sellers in each genre?

NOT your personal favorites (subjective)! The best-sellers (objective). Group book series together. Anyone know? Educated guesses are OK, but documented answers are preferred. For example, I'm ...
dmm's user avatar
  • 3,579
2 votes
3 answers
204 views

In a thriller, should my famous cities be familiar, or fresh?

The bigger, and more famous, a city, the more it tends to show up in thrillers. The biggest ones - New York, London, Paris, Tokyo - have been set-pieces in any number of thrillers, and I can assume ...
Standback's user avatar
  • 28.2k