September Issue - On Writing

INK DRIFT MAGAZINE
Three Tips for Thriller Writers
Archana Sarat
Thriller spells action
Something needs to happen as soon as you open a thriller novel. If it happens in the first scene, it
is good. Action in the first paragraph is better but action in the first line itself would be excellent.
For instance, this is the opening sentence of my book, Birds of Prey, ‘Anton hoped the bloody
bastard would slip on one of the ragged stones.’ While a few well-meaning folks were scandalised to
read the phrase ‘bloody bastard’ on the first line, the legendary Shri. B. S. Raghavan, who has worked
directly under the first three Prime Ministers of our country, agreed to launch the book only because
of that first sentence. So, don’t be scared to throw in a dead body or two there.
Please do not speak about the weather or the locale unless you plan to pull them into the action
too. Jerry Pinto does this beautifully in ‘Murder in Mahim’. It starts off with this sentence, ‘Bombay
doesn’t do night.’ After Tolstoy’s opening sentence in Anna Karenina, this is my most favourite
opening sentence in literature. The sentence not only speaks about the city, which plays a major part
in the novel, but also speaks about it in action. Bombay doesn’t do night.
Thomas Harris doesn’t do a gripping first sentence in ‘Red Dragon’. Damn, he doesn’t even
do a gripping opening scene! Do you know why? He is building up the atmosphere for the second
scene which is sure to make your stomach lurch. Thomas Harris could have easily interchanged those
two scenes while structuring his novel but he doesn’t because he knows that it wouldn’t have the same
impact that it has now. And that brings me to the second point…
Pay attention to structure
Unlike a few novels that ramble on without any clear storyline, a clear-cut story is a prerequisite for a
thriller. There must be a clear conflict and a rational solution for the same, without any ambiguity. You
cannot introduce your murderer to the audience after they have read more than half the book. To take
it one step further, a thriller novel needs to be divided into scenes and each scene needs to logically
lead to the next. If you are interested to know more about structuring a novel, I would suggest reading
these three books:
i) Aristotle’s - Poetics
ii) Joseph Campbell’s - The Hero with a Thousand Faces
iii) James Scott Bell’s - Plot and Structure
Since my novel dealt with two different points of view, and because there had to be a balance between
them, I had to carefully structure the novel. The fact that I had panted my way through the first draft
made sure that the story was all over the place. So, I made index cards with a scene for every card and
arranged them (on the floor) in various ways to see how best it would work. Only after that became
clear, did I start rewriting the next draft of Birds of Prey. Whether you do it on paper, cards or excel
doesn’t matter, but give a thought to how you structure your book. Many authors are excellent storytellers
that the process happens organically. However, most thriller writers give a careful thought to
the plot and structuring of their book.
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