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Psychological Thriller Character Development: Avoid Plot-Driven Puppets
How to Keep Psychological Thrillers Grounded in Emotion If your thriller characters only move to serve the plot, readers will feel the strings pulling them – and that disconnect can undercut all your suspense and tension. As an editor, I’m always asking: “Would this character, with this history, really make this choice?” It’s this emotional…
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Revise Your First Draft Calmly: Big-Picture Strategy
If you’re tweaking sentences but still feel like somethings “off,” it might be time for big-picture revision, not more line-level tinkering. Learn how to revise your first draft calmly. Before You Finish the First Draft While drafting, it can help to keep a low-pressure journal about your progress – what feels exciting, what feels sticky,…
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Common Fiction Writing Mistakes: Part 2 (POV, Cause & Effect, and More)
Every writer has blind spots. Some over-describe, some jump POV mid-scene, some repeat favorite words without even noticing – and none of this means you’re a “bad” writer, it just means you’re human. These are all common fiction writing mistakes, some grammar related, that are easy to fix. Inconsistent POV (Head-Hopping) Head-hopping happens when a…
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What Makes a Fantasy Novel
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What Makes a Psychological Thriller
Welcome to Part 1 of “What Makes a . . .” a series of posts where I will be sharing the top principles of what makes a certain genre really thrive. This post is all about what makes a psychological thriller work. Discover the five elements that will keep your readers guessing and questioning reality…
