Season 2, Episode 44: Thriller Conventions
with Dawn Ius
IN THIS EPISODE
Content warning! Wear your earbuds if the kiddos are around!
This week we welcome Dawn Ius to the podcast! Dawn is an Author Accelerator book coach, the author of three YA novels (Anne and Henry, Overdrive, and Lizzie), and the managing editor of the online magazine published by The International Thriller Writers organization, The Big Thrill.
We ask Dawn: What are the conventions in thrillers, and specifically, around sex scenes? Does a sex scene make a lot of sense in a thriller? Ask yourself these questions if you're wondering if you should keep that sex scene in your thriller or suspense novel:
Is there justification for the scene? Is it necessary? Dawn points to the work of Lee Child, who only put things in his books if they're absolutely necessary to move the plot forward, so ask yourself the following questions: Is it necessary to the scene? Does it reveal something about character, or ratchet up the tension? Is it serving the story in some way? Male/female dynamics are common and understandable in detective novels and mysteries and it's often a popular way to write a subplot in that genre.
“The same rules apply for sex as for violence – in 90% of the cases, less is more. It doesn’t need to be gratuitous.”
Books to check out as good examples of romantic suspense: Nora Roberts and Sandra Brown. In a lot of these authors' books, it's more about the build-up than the act itself. In a similar way one lays out a thriller or suspense novel, these novels are laid out in the same way: a series of scenes, increasing in tension, with the pay-off scene at the end. If you ratchet up the tension, reward the readers by the end of the story. This is true for both suspense/thrillers as well as romantic suspense.
In regards to the less is more concept, Dawn recommends:
“If the imagination can do the work, it’s almost better - most times - to let it do that.”
In thrillers, there's a bigger emphasis on active voice. You don't want passive sentences, and you want tense, tight, crisp dialogue. Everything you do in normal storytelling must serve the suspense portion of it. In a thriller, the question you're always coming back to is, "What does your character fear?" Open with an action scene - we need to get right into the story and find out what exactly is happening with the protagonist.
We talk about Dan Brown's novels and how they reinvigorated the genre in terms of exciting readers.
“The other component of thrillers that people don’t often think about, and this is in regards to Dan Brown’s novels - a really good thriller always teaches the reader something...thriller readers are almost always excited about learning something new.”
