By Bhavika
While a comedy, romance and drama may be genres not enjoyed by all but Thriller is one that gets everyone’s blood moving! The enjoyment, the craze and the ‘woooh’ factor that thrillers generate is unmatched. Be it Agatha Christie or Gillian Flynn or James Patterson, the genre has seen some of the best writings and techniques. Today, we are here to share with you the top ingredients to spice up the thriller that you are working on.
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A compelling story
Well, what is good writing without a good story? A strong sense of ‘thrill’ and ‘curiosity’ is always a must in any good thriller. The audience needs to feel the dread, the excitement levels need to rise to wonder about what is going to happen next? To keep the audience hooked, a good compelling and dreadful story is a must.
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Twists
No thriller is complete without an unpredictable turn of events and cliffhangers. If the audience does not feel sudden surprises and is not left on the edge of the seat thinking ‘how did this even happen?’ then you have got yourself an incomplete story. Throwing unknown and never thought of obstacles in the path of the protagonist can serve as a strong ingredient for a ‘wow’ thriller story. Bringing in scenes where the reader lacks information and slowly building on those points to bring a massive twist that nobody expected will surely blow the minds of the reader.
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A Race against time
A race against time, a clock ticking and a protagonist racing to achieve what he or she is out to achieve- what more would the audience want? Seeing the heart racing and witnessing a race against time is what the readers thoroughly enjoy. They like to see how the person matches the pace of the book and this certainly builds up the adrenaline rush and gets the reader stuck with the book! To begin the countdown and tick-tock.
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Unique Characters
Even though a strong story in a thriller is vital, it is incomplete without characters that are dynamic and the good cop-bad cop characterisation usually pays off. However, how the writer shapes those characters and sketches them is of immense importance. A terrifying and nasty villain along with an all-gooder protagonist who fights against each other truly adds to the thrill only if both characters are penned well. Also, thinking of unique professions for your character helps. Seeing women in leading police forces is not what the audience is used to, so use your work to bring development and creativity.
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An ending nobody thought of
This might be the point that comes last within the writing process but this is certainly the most crucial one. An unpredictable ending that does justice to everything the protagonist was bound to achieve is imperative. But an ending that truly turns around all points of views and maybe makes the protagonist as the villain and vice versa? Would not the audience enjoy that? So, anything that comes and serves as the last blow in a thriller is what the secret ingredient is.
All these ingredients paired up with some important lessons, character growth, a memorable location and if needed a scary and haunting crime scene; add these together and you have a bestseller! A thriller is one of the most widely-read genres. Avoid writing a piece of work that becomes immensely predictable and easy to guess. Think of something that will definitely get your own heart racing and picking up from day-to-day surroundings really helps. So add these ingredients to your work and tick all the boxes!