Thriller Writing Resources

September 7, 2012

The following list has been put together in respect to the new writers I am doing a thriller writing course with via the Sydney Writer’s Centre. Many of the participants are new to the genre, and equally new to writing fiction.

I also use many more resources, but these are a very good basic pack of books, websites, blogs and information for starting off writing the thriller, doing the research necessary and structuring the mystery, suspense, thriller or crime fiction novel.

Links from this post (not the books) can all be found shared on the Thriller Writers Resources bundle on my account at bitly.

Websites

	International Thriller Writers Regular ezine, The Big Thrill, membership, debut authors program, and of course – Thrillerfest,the annual writer’s conference which also includes craftfest and agentfest.Watch the Thrillerfest website also, although you may not be able to attend the conference, afterwards the presentations and workshops are available to purchase as downloads or DVDs. http://thrillerwriters.org/ http://www.thrillerfest.com/
	Stop, You’re Killing Me! A comprehensive listing of mystery, crime and thriller authors and popular characters, with several indexes to search through.http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/index.html
Other Links	Science Thrillers – specifically for the sub-genres of science or medical thrillers, this fan site reviews books. Writer’s Digest Mystery/Thriller articles online Jodie Renner – Jodie Renner is an editor who specialises in thrillers, mysteries and crime fiction. She blogs about the genre and writing in general on her own blog, and on a group blog, Crime Fiction Collective. Killer Thrillers – this is a new collective site designed to give value to ebook thriller readers. The Killer Thriller authors selling ebooks via this site are well-known authors in the industry. Thrillercast – a thriller podcast
Ezines	Spinetingler Magazine Suspense Magazine The Big Thrill – the monthly ezine from International Thriller Writers.
Group Blogs and Collectives	Crime Fiction Collective Type M 4 Murder Criminal Minds Murderati The Rap Sheet The Ladykillers Murder She Writes The Kill Zone The Thrill Begins – from International Thriller Writers Murderous Musings
Networks	There are also a few online networks and writers groups with specific thriller genre focus: Crimespace – http://crimespace.ning.com/ Sisters in Crime -http://www.sistersincrime.org/
Articles	Articles and posts on the genre. Note that that articles and posts often go missing, or sites are redesigned, so search around for them if the site still exists. The Joy of Thrillers – Linda Adams (Vision) Thriller: Writing the Action Scene – Linda Adams (Vision) Secrets to Writing Best-selling Thrillers by Gayle Lynds (Backspace) What is a thriller? by David Morrell (Backspace) Thriller Sidekicks by Lee Child (Backspace) Fifteen Differences between Mysteries and Thrillers by Carolyn Wheat – I can’t locate the original article, but she is quoted here at Rebecca Kennedy’s Blog. Mystery vs Suspense Thriller Book Genres by Janet L. Smith. (MysteryNet.com) How to write a thriller by PJ Parrish (Cabbages and Kings) Writing Legal Thrillers by Jeremiah Healy Rules of the thriller – Tennessee Screenwriting Association. Five Rules for Writing Thrillers – David Morrell The Big Thrill Archives – numerous thriller writing articles. (Thriller Writers Org) The Simple Art of Murder (1950) – Raymond Chandler‘s famous essay, still a valuable resource for writers today. Here is the essay alone, and online at Texas University, and the essay PDF or this 106 page PDF contains several short stories also.

Books

Thriller Writing
	How to Write a Damn Good Thriller by James N. Frey Provides good basic instruction specific to the genre, starting off with ideas, looking at villains, structure and thriller devices such as stakes, ticking clocks etc.Note: How to Write a Damn Good Mystery is also available. Frey differentiates the two with the following distinction - “In a mystery, the hero has a mission to find a killer. In a thriller, the hero has a mission to foil evil” (page xiii).
	Writing the Thriller by T. MacDonald Skillman Another good basics book, starting off with defining the thriller, character development, plot construction.
	Elements of Fiction Writing – Conflict & Suspense by James Scott BellThoroughly recommended, along with Bell’s Plot & Structure. This book really helps in understanding conflict.
	Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel by Hallie Ephron How to write a page-turner mystery, addressing all the sub-genres such as hardboiled, romantic or other crime fiction.
	Bullies, Bastards and Bitches by Jessica Morrell Writing the truly memorable antagonist.
	Writing a Killer Thriller by Jodie RennerThis is a 10,000 word, 40 page e-booklet produced by Jodie Renner from some of her most popular blog posts on suspense-thrillers. At only 99c, it’s well worth the kindle download.
Other Books	The following books have some good reviews on Amazon, and may well provide further benefits, although I have not as yet read these. The Ingredients of a Good Thriller by Chris Wood How to Write Killer fiction: The Funhouse of Mystery & The Roller Coaster of Suspense, by Carolyn Wheat Writing the Thriller Film: The Terror Within by Neill D Hicks Thrillers – Ideas for Writers – ideas4writers offers this ebook (PDF) of 101 ideas for thriller writers.
Crime Writing Guides	The Crime Writer’s Handbook by Douglas Wynn – an ABC to how to kill your characters. The Writer’s Handbook Guide to Crime Writing (British)
Getting the Action Right	Writing Fight Scenes by Rayne Hall Write the Fight Right by Alan Baxter Violence: A Writer’s Guide by Rory Miller Action! : Writing Better Action Using Cinematic Techniques by Ian Thomas Healy
Basics on Writing
	Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell Strong beginnings, middles and ends, plotting diagrams and charts, brainstorming – this book is thoroughly recommended.
	The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman and Becca PuglisiIf you want to show, not tell, this new book provides an encyclopaedic list of character visuals, inner thoughts and other ways to show particular emotions.
	Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne One of the most recommended for revision.
	Revision and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell Thoroughly recommended. There is a new edition of this book soon to come out, available for pre-order.
	Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald MaassStill one of my all time favourites, also look for Maass’ The Fire in Fiction, both are great for pacing.
	Hooked: Write Fiction that grabs readers from page one & never lets them go by Les Edgerton. The first chapter, first paragraph, first sentence.

Researching the Details

Aside from asking or interviewing experts such as doctors, lawyers, or the local police, the writing world is helpfully providing more and more online or written resources or reference guides for the crime fiction writer.

Forensics and Medical
Websites & People:	DP Lyle, MD – The Writer’s Forensics Blog – regular posts on medical and forensics questions from writers. Also look at his large links page for writers. Writers ER – Mary Welk provides some perspective from emergency medics and ER systems (U.S.A.). www.marywelk.com Tom Adair’s Forensics4Fiction website provides regular interesting posts on the subject. International Association for Identification http://theiai.org/ – the world’s oldest and largest forensic science/identification organization. It includes access to their publication, links and more. Crime Scene Investigator Network – http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/# several articles and how-to videos are some of the benefits found on this site. ICSIA – International Crime Scene Investigators Association.
Books:	Howdunit Forensics by DP Lyle Forensics for Dummies by Douglas P. Lyle Forensics and Fiction, More Forensics and Fiction and Murder and Mayhem – A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers – all by DP Lyle HowDunit – The Book of Poisons by Serita Stevens Body Trauma – The Writer’s Guide to Wounds and Injuries by David W. Page Also look for other Howdunit Guides such as Cause of Death, Deadly Doses – a Writer’s Guide to Poisons and several others. FBI Handbook of Crime Scene Forensics There are many other affordable CSI / Crime Scene and Forensics books available. Code Blue: A Writer’s Guide to Hospitals, including the ER, OR and ICU by Dr. Keith Wilson and Dr. David Page (USA) The Crime Writer’s Handbook by Douglas Wynn – an ABC to how to kill your characters.
Psychology and the Criminal Mind
Websites and People	Katherine Ramsland is a writer and forensic psychologist. She blogs about criminal psychology topics at Psychology Today. John Douglas, the retired FBI BAU Agent is perhaps better known as the author of Mindhunter and other books on famous criminal cases. Whilst in the FBI he co-authored the FBI’s famous Crime Classification Manual. His website offered several articles but is under reconstruction as this is written.
Books	There are many text books or manuals on criminal psychology, but the following have been written specifically for writers. The Criminal Mind: A Writer’s Guide to Forensic Psychology by Katherine Ramsland The Writer’s Guide to Psychology by Carolyn Kaufman
Police, Procedures, Law & Investigation
Websites & People:	Lee Lofland – The Graveyard Shift – interesting posts on police and crime items.
Books:	Police Procedure & Investigation by Lee Lofland (U.S.A. police procedures) The Crime Writer’s Reference Guide by Martin Roth (U.S.A. police procedurals lists) and The Writer’s Complete Crime Reference Book by the same author. Missing Persons (Howdunit Writing) by Fay Faron – a guide to becoming a Private Investigator with an obvious US basis. Also look for other Howdunit Guides such as Scene of the Crime, Just the Facts, Ma’am, Cause of Death, Modus Operandi, Armed and Dangerous: A Writer’s Guide to Weapons, and several others. The Crime Writer’s Guide to Police Practice and Procedure by Michael O’Byrne (British police procedures) Order in the Court: A Writer’s Guide to the Legal System by David S. Mullally (USA) Making Crime Pay: A Writer’s Guide to Criminal Law, Evidence and Procedure by Andrea Campbell (USA)
Overall Research Links	In Reference to Murder – BV Lawson’s link pages has a large database of links relevant to mystery and thriller writers, arranged alphabetically. Some are helpful for outside the USA also. http://www.inreferencetomurder.com/ DP Lyle’s Useful Sites for Writer’s page also includes many helpful links. http://www.dplylemd.com/DPLyleMD/Links.html

Links from the Post found at Bitly.

Thriller Writer Resources @ bitly

Updates:

This article has been updated:

• 17 Sept 2012 : added Crime Scene Investigators Network and ICSIA
  
• 19 Sept 2012 : added The Writer’s ER
• 04 Oct 2012 : added bitly bundle link for all the URLs provided in this article.
• 14 Nov 2012: added the articles section.
• 20 May 2013: added Raymond Chandler’s essay.