Genre Focus: Thriller and Suspense
How to write a killer thriller
I’ve handed the newsletter reigns this week to our in-house bestselling thriller expert, Holly Seddon. We have tips for building suspense, mastering the genre and creating brilliant bad-guys – as well as an exciting announcement for members.
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BLOG: How to write a thriller
Covering everything from character through to tips for self-editing, this article covers the seven things you need to know about writing in the thriller genre.
UPDATE: Meet the Jericho Writers team!
Behind these emails sit real-life people. Find out more about the individuals that make up Jericho Writers on our newly-updated Meet the Team page.
How to write a believable baddie (that people will root for) – by Holly Seddon
A key component of every thriller is a really good ‘baddie’. Or, if you want to be posh, an excellent antagonist. But for readers to really buy your bad guy or gal, they have to believe in them.
- Reasons: Whatever your antagonist’s predilection, they need to have a reason for it. It can be a warped reason that only makes sense to them and their world view. But a really complex and believable baddie will have reasons that we find ourselves contemplating and often agreeing with.
See Kilmonger from Black Panther, or Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley. - Back story: Killers, con artists, even cat burglars, don’t just appear out of thin air. Even if you don’t include most of their backstory in the final draft, spend some time fleshing it out for yourself. Get to know them, the way you do a protagonist. Where did they grow up? What dreams did they have? What was their final straw?
See Walter White from Breaking Bad or Joe from You by Caroline Kepnes. - Avoid stereotypes: Every principal character deserves to be nuanced and multi-layered – a baddie is no exception. Give them contradictions and grey areas, play with their language patterns and add interesting hobbies. Make them as whole as you can, and they will make your story whole in return.
See Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lecter or Patrick Bateman from Brett Easton Ellis’s American Psycho.
Who is the best book baddie you’ve read? Tell us your favourites on Townhouse (and you can join for free if you haven’t already!)
Holly S x
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