Who Killed Little Johnny Gill? by Kathryn McMaster

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Here are my top ten tips for writing crime fiction and thrillers that may please the reader making publishers start groping for chequebooks.

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1) Know the market.
Read very widely. As much authors as possible, less many books. If you have read one book by Patricia Cornwell or Linwood Barclay, then move on. You know their shtick. Learn what else is out there. That means also reading the classics, having the history of the genre, and reading a lot of fiction in translation too. In addition, it means reading established track record non-fiction. If you're writing political espionage thrillers, by way of example, you need to know the political, military and security bacground If you don't, your readers will - and will also be caught out.

2) Understand the location where the leading edge lies.
The biggest names (eg: Coben, Rankin, Reichs) aren't the most current. They built their reputations years back. Try to locate the sexiest (biggest selling, most praised, state-of-the-art, prize winning) debut novels. It is precisely what editors are buying today. Which is the market you're competing in.

3) Don't merely trot out the cliches.
You've got a murderer have you? A terrorist bomb plot? Be tough yourself. These things are tired old cliches. They can work if you handle them in a new or dazzling way, though the old ways shall no longer be enough.

4) Get complex. Your plot almost certainly needs a brain-aching level of complexity, along with a surprising number of well-planned, well-executed twists. Because modern crime authors have become really good at developing complex but plausible plots, and because modern thriller writers have grown to be so adept at delivering a limitless chain of impossible-to-see-it-coming twists, you can not afford to be under devilishly clever yourself. With rare exceptions, simple will no longer sells.

5) Stay with the darkness.
Your book should be dark and tough. That's your entry ticket for the genre. What you do there may be very varied, but cute, cosy crime is certainly a limited market now. If you want to write cosy crime, then expect a smaller readership and meagre sales.

6) Do not forget jeopardy.
Crime novels now are also thrillers. It's not OK for the detective to resolve the mystery and explain everything to a hushed and respectful audience. On the contrary, (s)he's got to stay in fear of his/her life. It's got to be white knuckle and also intellectually satisfying.

7) Focus on character.
Crime and thriller plots can be forgettable, and often feel very samey anyway. Characters, however, never leave us: Holmes, Marlowe, Elvis Cole, Hannibal Lecter. If you find a strong character, and you must do everything else reasonably competently, then you definitely quite likely have fiction that'll sell.

8) Write well!
Bad writing will likely kill your chances of success. And quite right too. You won't need to be flowery. You need to be completely competent.

9) Be economical.
Thrillers must be taut. Check your book for needless chapters, your chapters for needless paragraphs, your paragraps for needless sentences, as well as your sentences for needless words. Then do it all over again. Twice.

10) Be perfectionist.
Great isn't good enough. Dazzling will be the target. Being tough with ourselves is the essential first ingredient. Getting somebody else to be tough along is quite possibly the second.

I said ten tips, didn't I? What is, here's an eleventh:

11) Don't quit.
Be persistent. You learn by doing. You'll improve. Think of building your skills, engaging with the industry, or getting editorial advice. Those things will increase your maturity as a writer. Now write that thriller, polish it - and then sell it. Best of luck!