6 tips for writing dialogue that you haven’t heard before
What do you do when you want to be writing dialogue that’s fresh? Writing dialogue cheatsheet to find fresh angles on your characters Posts with …
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Crime fiction’s best first paragraphs
Best first paragraphs set up the masters’ novels Hammett, Chandler, and Simenon with 3 great ways to start a book If you have a lot of time to …
Write about trauma to relieve the emotion
Memories turn into nightmares, until writing makes them something to be proud of While working on my second Palestinian crime novel, A Grave in Gaza, …
Fiction is closer to the ‘truth’ than journalism
Writing the truth by turning to fiction, instead of journalism Journalism is fiction. Don’t believe me? Open a newsmagazine and you’ll be …
Hammett’s writing evokes emotion through reality
How Hammett’s classic ‘The Maltese Falcon’ showed me what kind of writer to be As an undergraduate I studied English literature at …
Guns in thrillers: Crime writers and gun control
Guns in thrillers shouldn’t glamorize violence–even when the hero is the best shot I’ve only fired a gun on a single occasion, though guns …
Thriller structure: Midpoint gives plot impetus
The Midpoint is key to the pace of a thriller structure — and many other genres When you structure a thriller, pay special attention to the plot …
Write a thriller: Bad experiences make you a better writer
Remember how it feels to feel bad, endure it positively, and write it down When something bad happens to a writer, the experience is great material …
If you read only one Robert Harris thriller, read Archangel
The story of a Stalin bloodline is truly chilling What? Not Enigma? Not The Ghost? Right, not Enigma. Definitely not The Ghost. In Archangel, Robert …
Write a thriller: Conceal to create suspense in writing
Trick readers, but don’t hoodwink them In his fabulous essay The Simple Art of Murder Raymond Chandler wrote that “The solution must seem …
If you read only one Lee Child thriller, read ’61 Hours’
Child’s evocation of the Dakota winter shows how well he writes Lee Child is justly famous for creating a compelling main character in the loner Jack …
Thriller plot: Figure out destination to build climax
Figure out the end of the novel before you start to write The great thriller writer Joseph Finder told me that figuring out the end of a thriller plot …