Four Crime Genres, Four Techniques to get you that Contract! Psychological suspense, thrillers, horror, and mystery are popular subjects for a lot of genre writers. Yet all writers are already intimately familiar with these topics; so much of a writer’s life is an everyday encounter with most if not all of them. Supernatural self-belief, […]
Category Archives: Writing Tips
If You Can’t Dream Up an Original Idea…Steal One
If You Can’t Dream Up an Original Idea…Steal One Like most published writers, I’ve moderated quite a few workshops in the art and craft of writing thrillers and mysteries. In virtually every one of these sessions, one of the attendees will invariably raise his or her hand and tell me that they’ve been trying […]
Ten Emotions I ALWAYS Experience whilst Writing a First Draft (and You will Too)
Ten Emotions I ALWAYS Experience whilst Writing a First Draft (and You will Too) by Louise Genson Amazement – It’s 3am and I startle awake. I’ve thought of the singularly best idea ever! I don’t know why no-one’s written it before. It’s original and clever and I know readers will love it as much […]
Rules for an Aspiring Techno-Thriller Writer
Rules for an Aspiring Techno-Thriller Writer: I’ve been asked several times for advice to a new techno-thriller writer. I started making a list, and it’s gotten a lot longer than I expected. These are all things I’ve learned since I got into the business. Some were as Tom Clancy’s co-author (apprentice); others were after I struck […]
The Necessity of an Antagonistic Setting
The Necessity of an Antagonistic Setting A trait of a bestselling writer is the ability to raise the stakes for the protagonist. A writer often turns to obvious means of adding stress, tension, and conflict through characterization, dialogue, plot twists, and emotive conflict. Those are powerful tools, but an antagonistic setting means shaky ground for […]
Writing Tip #1: Talk to Real People
Writing Tip #1: Talk to Real People As someone who has been writing police procedurals on the page and on the screen for more than thirty years, I take research for my books and TV shows very seriously. The absolute best way to draw your characters is to talk to real people about their stories. […]
Unraveling the Mystery of Crime Readers
Unraveling the Mystery of Crime Readers Crime readers don’t like crime at all. What they like is justice… Item: A well-dressed woman sips tea—one fashionable leg crossed over the other, a heeled shoe bouncing on her toe—as she casually reads about the coroner extracting seaweed from the rotting flesh of a bloated corpse too long […]
Lisa Gardner’s Top Five Writing Tips
Lisa Gardner’s Top Five Writing Tips When I started my career as a suspense novelist, I was seventeen years old. I wrote my first novel on a shared computer in the college computer lab during my free time after my classes, homework and work-study job were all completed. Basically, I drafted three unpublished novels in […]
Don’t Start your Typewriter Without these Five Writing Tips
Don’t Start your Typewriter Without these Five Writing Tips I wanted to discuss some of the “nuts and bolts” of the writing business from my observations and lessons I’ve learned over the forty years I have been writing. This profession has changed drastically over the past several years with the rise of self-publishing and e-books. […]
Five Tips for Writing a Suspense Novel
Five Tips for Writing a Suspense Novel The pops of an old house settling. The creak of a door. The haunting silence of being alone. These are some of my favorite sounds, so choosing to write suspense wasn’t a stretch for me when I decided to give penning a novel a go. Over the years, […]
Let Your Senses Run Wild
Let Your Senses Run Wild As a suspense and thriller author, I write a lot of murder scenes. It’s a hazard of the job. Sometimes I write them in the moment, as the blade is being swung or the trigger is pulled; sometimes it’s the seconds that immediately follow. And other times, the scenes […]
Five Ways to Begin Your Book
Five Ways to Begin Your Book My favorite part of writing is the beginning of a book. It’s exciting because I feel free to do anything I want. I haven’t painted myself into a corner yet. Or questioned who came up with this stupid plot? Or slogged through the middle where I’m looking around for […]