Genre Guide — Thriller

Remember to read the articles in the Essentials section. These cover all the essential skills you’ll need as a self-published author. They are not just for beginners either. They go in depth on how to successfully write, publish, and market your own books.

Medical thrillers are still a long way from their heyday, but I think there is still room for them in the thriller market. Healthcare continues to be a big concern in the US, and fiction about big concerns tend to get read.

Remember to read the articles in the Essentials section. These cover all the essential skills you’ll need as a self-published author. They are not just for beginners either. They go in depth on how to successfully write, publish, and market your own books.

If you like courtroom drama and know enough about to make the legal maneuverings realistic, legal thriller is a good way to make money off that knowledge. The category is down right now, but I expect it to bounce back. If there were less than a dozen Law & Order shows on every time I turned on the TV, perhaps I would be more concerned.

Medical thrillers are based around hospitals, doctors, nurses, EMTs, paramedics — any and all medical professionals. These thrillers can be quite a bit quieter than other thrillers, tending more toward mystery or suspense pacing at times as the doctors try to figure out the pathogen that will destroy the world or the murderer who is stalking their patients, but

Like medical, legal thrillers used to be a part of the larger crime genre, but moved over with thriller, though in the legal thrillers, there's usually less action than in other thriller genres. In the old days, John Grisham used to hit the top of the bestseller list with his legal thrillers, proving that it was possible to make law interesting.

Back to Thriller Guide Remember to read the articles in the Essentials section. These cover all the essential skills you’ll need as a self-published author. They are not just for beginners either. They go in depth on how to successfully write, publish, and market your own books. Online Resources Learn to write thrillers from David Baldacci or Dan Brown at Masterclass.com Read this Reedsy post on how to write a thriller. Go to this giant thriller writing conference. Books to Read If you want to write thrillers, you must read them. Experts in the industry are consistent with their advice...

Back to Thriller Guide For this exercise, you should have a document open where you can write. Now copy the text in the box and paste it into that document. This will be the blueprint for your story. You’ll fill it in as you go through the exercise and end up with a basic outline for your thriller. You may want to post your story outline in the forums to get some ideas from other forum members.  The Thriller Builder Our hero (her name here) must prevent (disaster here). They are in a hurry because (ticking clock here). The hero...

Back to Thriller Guide Please note that there are a number of thrillers that don’t follow this blueprint exactly, and most don’t follow it perfectly. If your book will still be thrilling and interest readers without one of these pieces, or with some of them done differently or in a different order, feel free to do your own thing. This blueprint is just so that you can understand the basic format that your readers will expect from the genre.  ACT 1 – The People And The Problems The Hook The hook can be anywhere from 200 to 2,000 words, and...

Back to Thriller Guide Do you love a brilliant hero trying to save the world before he’s blown to bits by the time bomb in his shorts? Then you should be writing thrillers. If you read a lot of them, you already know the tropes to use, the cliches to avoid, and the basic structures they follow. If you haven’t read many thrillers, and just think they might be a good way to make money, you should go read a bunch of them and then come back. You must be very familiar with, and even love, thrillers if you are...