Crime and Thriller Writing Sample Chapter
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<strong>Crime</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Thriller</strong> <strong>Writing</strong><br />
Testing your ideas 64<br />
Getting rid of ideas, by Laurie 65<br />
Early decisions 67<br />
Point of view, by Laurie 67<br />
Setting , by Michelle 70<br />
Period, by Laurie 75<br />
Series or st<strong>and</strong>alone? 77<br />
‘Sub-plots’, ‘themes’, <strong>and</strong> ‘author’s voice’ 79<br />
Plotting: how (<strong>and</strong> when) to do it 82<br />
The Organic approach 83<br />
The Orderly approach, by Michelle 84<br />
Middle ground: the Orderly Organics 94<br />
Research 95<br />
What you need to know in order to write, by Michelle 95<br />
Research in stages, by Laurie 97<br />
A sense of place, by Michelle 99<br />
A sense of place, by Laurie 101<br />
Library vs Internet, by Laurie 102<br />
The expert, by Laurie 103<br />
Taking control of your research 104<br />
Part 2: Tips <strong>and</strong> tales – guest contributors<br />
Mark Billingham: How to create suspense 109<br />
S. J. Bolton: Contemporary crime in the Gothic tradition 111<br />
Alafair Burke: Watching the world with empathy 114<br />
Lee Child: The evolutionary purpose of the thriller 116<br />
N. J. Cooper: Creating criminal characters 119<br />
Meg Gardiner: Why write thrillers? 121<br />
Tess Gerritsen: A tense situation 122<br />
Sophie Hannah: In defence of the puzzle 124<br />
Jim Kelly: A modern key to the locked room mystery 127<br />
Laura Lippman: Getting ideas 129<br />
Gayle Lynds: Fascinate me 130<br />
Alex McBride: Using real evidence 131<br />
Val McDermid: Series or st<strong>and</strong>alone? 133<br />
Dreda Say Mitchell: The city as a setting 136<br />
Sara Paretsky: Why are we writing? 138<br />
Jill Paton Walsh: The author’s voices 140<br />
George Pelecanos: One book, one teacher 142<br />
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