title: Writing the Thriller: How to Craft Page-Turning Suspense with Instruction from Best-Selling Authors
author: T. MacDonald Skillman
description: The first thing T. Macdonald Skillman sets out to do in <i>Writing the Thriller</i> is define the thriller. Unlike the mystery, she says, "Suspense is emotional. It's surprise and confusion and fear and anticipation. And suspense is danger. Immediate danger." Thrillers come in a variety of guises: action-adventures; legal, medical, techno-, and political thrillers; psychological suspense; romantic-relationship suspense; women-in-jeopardy suspense. Skillman addresses each element of fiction writing--such as setting, dialogue, and point of view--as it applies to the various types of thriller. For all thrillers, she says, it is best to begin "in the midst of the action or danger"; any subsequent back story should "add a new dimension to the suspense itself." And the pacing should be "like climbing a long, steep series of stairways.... As you cling to the railing at the bottom of the last set of stairs, your heart is pounding; your lungs are burning." Most useful here are Skillman's case studies in plotting, for which she creates eight plots (one for each type of thriller) using the same cast of characters.
zlib_text: _Readers are gripped by the_ Sleeper 13 _series_
  
  ‘An original action-packed international thriller with tension and danger on
  every page. Rob Sinclair is a writer of immense power’ – **Michael Wood,
  author of** _ **For Reasons Unknown**_
  
  ‘Timely, gripping and utterly shocking … one of the most intense and
  engrossing thrillers of the last decade’
  
  ‘Perfect for thriller lovers and fans of _I Am Pilgrim, Orphan X_ ’
  
  ‘Another excellent read from Rob Sinclair. Couldn’t tear myself away from it
  from start to finish’
  
  ‘I could not put down this book’
  
  ‘A powerful and hard-hitting psychological thriller’
  
  ‘Took my breath away with its sheer energy and fast-paced narrative … I lived
  and breathed every moment’
  
  ‘A fast-paced, all-action thriller which keeps you on the edge of your seat’
  
  For my mum and dad
  
  Contents
  
  Praise
  
  Dedication
  
  [Title Page](index_split_002.html#filepos1673)
  
  Chapter One
  
  Chapter Two
  
  Chapter Three
  
  Chapter Four
  
  Chapter Five
  
  Chapter Six
  
  Chapter Seven
  
  Chapter Eight