10 Dos and Don’ts for Writing Page-Turning Thriller Novels
Keep your readers burning the midnight oil with these 10 dos and don’ts for writing page-turning thriller novels from Publishers Weekly bestselling author Jenna Kernan.
Writing thrillers, suspense, and mystery can be a challenge. Keeping the tension high and pages turning needs to be balanced with giving your reader—and protagonist—the occasional opportunity to have a rest.
Below are 10 dos and don’ts for writers to consider while writing or in those moments when you wonder how to make that story more compelling.
Do Include Intriguing Unanswered Questions
The search for answers keeps readers turning pages. So, present a question and then the answer, which leads to another question. Or present a second question before answering the first question. Either way, readers have a reason to race through those pages.
Don’t Let Backstory Drag the Plot
The baggage your protagonists carry is very important. But use restraint. Reflect carefully on when and why to include details from the past by considering what the reader needs to know, which is different from what the writer must know to craft the story.
Long blocks of backstory slow or halt forward momentum. Remember that withholding those details to reveal at the proper moment can yield big impacts on the story. Some of the best reveals come from events that happened in the past, or from not knowing all there is to know about a character.
Don’t End a Chapter Without Including a Hook
When possible, leave the reader with a cliffhanger at the end of every chapter. This means halting the scene at a moment of high conflict. Even a small unanswered question can draw the reader from one chapter to the next.
Your job is to prevent your reader from sticking that bookmark in the book or shutting off their e-reader by any means necessary. That means giving readers a reason to turn the page. Scenes and chapter breaks are not synonymous. Try writing the scene then add a chapter break at the point of highest tension.
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Do Create a Power Imbalance
Readers love an underdog. Creating a protagonist that is outmatched in strength, resources, or in a dozen other ways gives the reader cause to worry over your hero and to root for them to best the antagonist. So, set them up at a disadvantage and then figure a way to allow them to succeed.
Do Create a Dark Secret
The protagonist is hiding something which gives the readers reason to read on. This secret needs to be dangerous and must impact the story at some point in a way that the reader didn’t see coming. Drop little hints and give the protagonist anxiety at what will happen when and if anyone learns the truth. Then make sure they learn it at the worst possible time.
Don’t Forget the Ticking Clock
Make the protagonist aware of a known imminent threat with a fixed deadline. Television shows like 24 exploited the ticking clock season after season. But the clock does not have to be literal. A time crunch includes any situation with a hard and fast deadline before something awful might happen.
This could be a second earthquake predicted to arrive in the movie San Andres. Or an actual ticking clock in any number of stories with active time bombs. It might be a demand by a kidnapper to deliver the cash in 12 hours.
The key here is that the reader and protagonist know about the impending disaster and that the writer sticks to the deadline. If you promise something will happen, it needs to happen or be averted exactly when predicted.
Don’t Go Easy on Your Protagonist
We all love our protagonists, but it is important to put them through the wringer. Challenge their fears and core beliefs, put them in jeopardy, pit them against superior characters, and present them with terrible options. That last one is a favorite. Presenting a protagonist with an ethical choice between two bad outcomes is a great way to reveal character.
In the original Star Trek series, and later the movie, this sort of challenge was presented to Captain Kirk at the Academy during the Kobayashi Maru test. A young Kirk revealed his character by rewriting the code designed to ensure failure and cheating—cheating death, in fact, which is what he did often thereafter.
Do Use Dramatic Irony
Hitchcock was a master of this technique. It involves letting the reader know of a threat, secret, or peril which is unknown to the protagonist. Perhaps there’s a killer in the house or a bomb is ticking in a crowded restaurant.
This allows the reader to anticipate and stress over what’s to come to the hapless characters now in harm’s way. It is also a great way to show how dastardly your antagonist really is.
Do Let the Protagonist Score the Occasional Win
Your protagonist needs to have a few successes. If these victories lead to vital knowledge that initially leads to greater opposition and a worsening of their situation, so much the better.
Do Make the Stakes Worth the Risk
If you are going to put your protagonist in grave danger, then you need to make the reason for facing these hazards compelling. If it is a situation that any logical person would run away from, there must be a reason for your protagonist to stay and fight.
Be sure that when pressed, the protagonist will consider quitting but the stakes are so high, they cannot, despite the psychological, emotional, or physical risks.
Whatever you are writing, using a few or all these techniques is bound to ramp up tension and add even more thrills to your work. And anything that keeps readers turning pages and coming back for more is bound to be a good thing!
Publishers Weekly bestselling author Jenna Kernan writes gripping thrillers. Her next release, The Ex-Wives, features a woman who marries the perfect man, until she discovers he has been married twice before, both his former stepdaughters are missing, and he's the FBI’s prime suspect. Is her daughter next? Look for The Ex-Wives in October 2022. Visit Jenna at jennakernan.com.
