How to Write Thrillers

I think there’s no secret that I love reading thrillers, mysteries—anything really with a good twist. So, as we’re exploring the different genres of writing and how you can become a better writer, I thought it might be interesting to talk about how to write thrillers.

And like all the different genre guides we’ve covered so far, there’s actually a lot more that goes into writing thrillers than you’d think. Seriously, I’ve always thought that I couldn’t handle genres like murder mysteries and thrillers because of how amazing they are, but now—well, we’ve got the formula, so who knows?

Maybe one day, after I’m done with my manuscript, the muse will call me to write a thriller. But let’s hold off on that for today and go deep into how you can write thrillers. Let’s go.

What is a Thriller?

As always, before we get into the art of writing a thriller, let’s understand what a thriller is. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a thriller is:

a work of fiction or drama designed to hold the interest by the use of a high degree of intrigue, adventure, or suspense.

The core idea behind a thriller is for readers to feel a constant sense of anticipation, unease or dread. Which is why when you’re recommending a thriller to a friend or colleague, you’ll find yourself using words like “page turner” or “intriguing.” I mean, that’s how I do it. But the point is, thrillers are designed to make you want to keep reading. Whether it’s because something bad’s about to happen, or your protagonist has finally cracked the code or whatever, thrillers want you to read. And honestly, it’s amazing. I love the rush of adrenaline I feel at the end of a thriller. It’s so much fun and honestly, this is low key why I love reading. You’re basically in a different world each time you’re reading something new.

What Sets Thrillers Apart from Other Genres

• Mystery vs. Thriller: In a mystery, the focus is on solving a puzzle: who did it and how. In a thriller, the reader often knows who the threat is; the tension comes from whether the protagonist can survive or stop them. Mysteries are intellectual puzzles. Thrillers are emotional roller coasters.
• Horror vs. Thriller: Horror aims to terrify and disturb, often through supernatural or grotesque elements. Thrillers keep one foot in reality: the threats are plausible, which makes them feel more immediate and personal.
• Action vs. Thriller: Action focuses on external conflict: fights, chases, explosions. Thrillers focus on internal and external conflict: the protagonist’s choices under pressure, the psychological cat-and-mouse game, the moral compromises they must make.

A thriller can contain mystery elements (like The Silent Patient), horror elements (like Sharp Objects), or action elements (like spy thrillers), but the defining characteristic is sustained, escalating tension that keeps readers on edge from beginning to end.

What Makes a Thriller a Thriller?

Now that we know what a thriller is, let’s break down the core elements that make the genre work. These are the non-negotiables: the things that separate a thriller from just “a book with some tense moments.”

1. High Stakes

The protagonist must have something significant to lose. This could be their life, their family’s safety, their sanity, their freedom, or their reputation. In The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Lisbeth is fighting for survival and justice against powerful, dangerous men. In The Silent Patient, Theo is risking his career and potentially his safety to uncover the truth about Alicia.

The stakes need to feel personal and urgent. If the reader doesn’t believe the protagonist could genuinely lose everything, the tension deflates.

2. A Ticking Clock

Not every thriller has a literal countdown, but there’s always a sense of urgency. Time is running out. The killer is getting closer. The conspiracy is about to go public. The truth is slipping away.

This urgency is what drives pacing. It’s why readers can’t put thrillers down—there’s an implicit promise that waiting until tomorrow to finish the book means the protagonist might not survive.

3. Constant Tension

Thrillers don’t give readers much breathing room. Even in quieter moments, there’s an undercurrent of dread. Something feels off. The protagonist is never truly safe.

Agatha Christie does this brilliantly in And Then There Were None. Even when characters are just sitting around talking, the reader knows another murder is coming. The tension never fully releases until the final pages.

4. Twists and Revelations

Thrillers reward readers for paying attention by subverting expectations. A character you trusted is the villain. A detail you dismissed early on turns out to be crucial. The truth is darker—or more complicated—than it seemed.

The best twists feel both surprising and inevitable. When you look back, the clues were there all along, but the author misdirected you so skillfully that you didn’t see it coming.

5. A Compelling Central Question

Every thriller poses a question that the entire narrative must answer. 

• Who killed Alicia’s husband? (The Silent Patient) 
• Who is murdering the guests on Soldier Island? (And Then There Were None)
• Can Blomkvist and Lisbeth expose the Vanger family’s secrets before they’re silenced? (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo)

This question hooks readers from page one and keeps them reading until they get the answer.

Types of Thrillers

The thriller genre is broad, and understanding the different subgenres can help you focus your story and target the right audience. While the core elements—tension, stakes, pacing—remain constant, each type offers specific opportunities for suspense.

1. Spy Thrillers

Spy thrillers revolve around espionage, international intrigue, and high-level secrets. The stakes are often geopolitical—preventing war, exposing corruption, protecting classified information.

Moscow X by David McCloskey is a perfect example. The protagonist navigates dangerous intelligence operations, double agents, and the murky world of international espionage where trust is a liability and every move could be your last.

Spy thrillers typically feature morally complex protagonists, elaborate plots with multiple layers of deception, and settings that span multiple countries. The tension comes from the constant threat of exposure and the life-or-death consequences of a single mistake.

2. Domestic Thrillers

Domestic thrillers bring danger into familiar spaces—homes, families, marriages. Horror isn’t some distant threat; it’s the person sleeping next to you, the neighbor across the street, the secrets buried in your own past.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn exemplifies this perfectly. Camille returns to her hometown and her toxic family, where the real danger isn’t a serial killer (though there is one)—it’s the psychological damage inflicted by the people who are supposed to love you.

Domestic thrillers focus on intimate betrayals, claustrophobic settings, and the erosion of trust in close relationships. The tension is personal and often psychological.

3. Psychological Thrillers

Psychological thrillers mess with your head. They often feature unreliable narrators, blurred lines between reality and perception, and protagonists whose mental state is as much a threat as any external antagonist.

The Silent Patient is a masterclass in this. Alex Michaelides structures the entire novel around an unreliable narrator, making readers question everything they’ve been told. The twist works because the psychological manipulation extends beyond the characters to the reader themselves.

These thrillers prioritize mind games over physical action. The suspense comes from not knowing what’s real, who to trust, or whether the protagonist’s perception can be relied upon.

4. Political Thrillers

Political thrillers deal with power, corruption, conspiracy, and the machinations of government or major institutions. The stakes are often enormous—the fate of nations, exposure of systemic corruption, or the preservation of democracy itself.

While I haven’t read many recent political thrillers, the genre thrives on complex plots involving multiple power players, moral ambiguity about means and ends, and protagonists caught between doing what’s right and what’s politically expedient.

The tension comes from navigating bureaucracy, betrayal at the highest levels, and the realization that the systems meant to protect people are often the source of danger.

5. Romance Thrillers

Romance thrillers blend love stories with danger. The romantic relationship isn’t just a subplot—it’s integral to the stakes. Often, one or both protagonists must protect the other from an external threat, or the romance itself creates the danger.

These thrillers maintain suspense while developing emotional connection between characters. The reader cares about both the survival of the characters and the success of their relationship, doubling the investment.

6. Contained Thrillers

Contained thrillers restrict the action to a single location—a house, a plane, a bunker, an island. This limitation intensifies the claustrophobia and raises the stakes because escape options are limited or nonexistent.

And Then There Were None is the quintessential contained thriller. Ten people trapped on an island, no way off, and someone is killing them one by one. The confined setting amplifies paranoia and makes every character interaction fraught with danger.

Contained thrillers force characters into proximity with their threats, eliminating the possibility of running away and making every confrontation unavoidable.

How to Write Thrillers: A Step-by-Step Guide on Writing Thrillers

Now let’s get into the actual craft of writing thrillers: the techniques and strategies that turn a good idea into a page-turner.

1. Foundation Elements

Every thriller needs a solid foundation. Without these core elements, all the twists and tension in the world won’t save your story.

Start with an Intriguing Premise

Your premise is the engine of your thriller. It’s the “what if” question that drives everything else. A strong premise immediately establishes conflict and danger.

• What if a famous painter killed her husband and then never spoke again? That’s The Silent Patient. The premise alone raises questions that demand answers.
• What if ten strangers were invited to an island and murdered one by one, with no way to escape? That’s And Then There Were None. You’re hooked before you even meet the characters.

Your premise should be specific, high-stakes, and immediately intriguing. It’s the promise you make to readers: a promise of tension and danger to follow. If your premise doesn’t grab attention, the rest of your thriller will struggle to maintain it. Test your premise by asking:

• Does it immediately suggest conflict?
• Are the stakes clear?
• Would you want to read this book based on the premise alone?

Master Your Pacing

Pacing is the rhythm of your thriller—when to accelerate into crisis and when to slow down for character moments or revelations.

Effective pacing isn’t about non-stop action. It’s about controlling the information flow and knowing when to ratchet up tension versus when to give readers (and characters) a moment to breathe before the next blow lands.

In The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson alternates between methodical investigation (slower pacing that builds dread) and bursts of violence or revelation (fast pacing that delivers payoff). The contrast makes both more effective.

Pacing techniques:

• Use shorter sentences and paragraphs during action or high-tension scenes
• Slow down for emotional beats or important revelations so they land properly
• End chapters on cliffhangers or unanswered questions to propel readers forward
• Vary scene length—long scenes can build atmosphere, short scenes create urgency

Not every scene should operate at the same speed. Sometimes a slower, more deliberate sequence amplifies the shock of the next fast-paced event.

2. Character Development

Plot drives thrillers, but characters make readers care about the outcome. Without investment in the people involved, all the twists and danger feel hollow.

Craft a Compelling Protagonist

Your protagonist is the reader’s anchor in the chaos. They don’t need to be likable, but they need to be compelling—someone readers want to follow through hell.

A compelling protagonist has:

• Clear goals: What do they want? What are they trying to prevent or achieve?
• High personal stakes: Why does this matter to them specifically?
• Flaws or vulnerabilities: Perfection is boring. Give them weaknesses that complicate their journey.
• Resilience or resourcefulness: They need the capacity to fight back, even when outmatched.

Camille Preaker in Sharp Objects is self-destructive, unreliable, and deeply flawed—but her struggle to confront her past while investigating murders in her hometown makes her journey gripping.

Compelling protagonists aren’t perfect. They’re interesting. Their choices under pressure reveal who they really are.

Create a Believable Villain

A believable villain elevates your entire thriller. They’re not evil for evil’s sake—their actions stem from motivations that make sense to them, even if they’re twisted or morally reprehensible.

The best villains believe they’re justified. They have reasons—however warped—for what they do. This makes them unpredictable and terrifying because their logic isn’t immediately apparent.

In The Silent Patient, the antagonist’s motivations are rooted in [avoiding spoilers, but you get the idea—the villain’s actions make horrible sense once you understand their perspective].

Elements of a believable villain:

• Clear motivations: What do they want? Why are they willing to hurt people to get it?
• A twisted moral code: They justify their actions somehow, even if that justification is delusional
• Competence: They need to be a credible threat. If they’re incompetent, there’s no tension
• Personal connection to the protagonist: The best conflicts are personal, not random

Agatha Christie’s villains are often believable because they’re driven by recognizable human emotions—greed, revenge, self-preservation, jealousy. The methods are extreme, but the motivations are disturbingly relatable.

Want to learn more about writing compelling villains? Check out my guide: On Writing Villains: How to Write Complex, Compelling Antagonists.

3. Build Suspense

Suspense is the lifeblood of thrillers. It’s the agonizing wait, the dread of what’s coming, the sense that something terrible is about to happen.

Layer Tension Slowly

The most effective suspense is built gradually, not dumped all at once. You introduce hints, escalate minor threats into major ones, and let dread accumulate.

In And Then There Were None, Christie doesn’t kill everyone in the first chapter. She establishes the isolation, introduces the characters, builds unease through the nursery rhyme, and then the murders begin. By the time the body count rises, the terror is compounded by everything that came before.

Slow suspense construction involves:

• Establishing normalcy before disrupting it
• Planting small details that feel wrong or ominous
• Letting the reader’s imagination fill in dark possibilities
• Escalating gradually rather than jumping straight to maximum danger

The patience pays off. When the climax hits, readers have been wound so tight that the release is devastating.

Avoid Narrative Disruptions

In a fast-paced thriller, anything that pulls readers out of the immediate danger destroys tension.

Dreams and flashbacks are the biggest culprits. They interrupt forward momentum and distract from the current crisis. The continuous push toward solving the mystery or escaping danger is fundamental to thrillers, and these devices kill that momentum.

If you need to reveal backstory, fold it into the present action through:

• Dialogue (characters discussing past events)
• Physical reminders (a scar, a photograph, a location that triggers memory)
• Brief internal thoughts (a sentence or two, not a full scene)

Keep the focus on the unfolding action and present threats. The past only matters if it directly impacts what’s happening now.

Want to learn about writing flashbacks and backstories? Check out my guide: On Flashbacks & Backstory: How to Write Them Effectively.

4. Structure and Payoff

Every thriller needs a satisfying climax, where tension, conflict, and pacing converge into a spectacular resolution.

The Climax

The climax is the peak moment where the protagonist confronts the central threat and the stakes are at their highest. Everything you’ve built—the suspense, the character development, the escalating danger—must pay off here.

In The Silent Patient, the climax recontextualizes the entire novel. What seemed like one story reveals itself to be something completely different, and the final confrontation delivers both emotional and plot resolution.

Your climax should:

• Be the most intense sequence in the novel
• Resolve the central question posed by your premise
• Feel earned—not contrived or rushed
• Test your protagonist in a way that reveals their true character

Readers have invested in your compelling protagonist and feared your believable villain. The climax is where you deliver on that investment.

Plot Twists That Work

Twists are thriller staples, but bad twists feel cheap and undermine everything that came before. Good twists are both surprising and inevitable.

A successful twist consists of:

• Surprises on first read: The reader didn’t see it coming
• Makes sense in retrospect: When you look back, the clues were there
• Recontextualizes earlier events: Details that seemed innocuous suddenly take on new meaning
• Feels fair: The author didn’t lie or withhold crucial information; they misdirected

The Silent Patient nails this. The twist is shocking, but when you reread the book, every piece of evidence was planted. Michaelides didn’t cheat—he just directed your attention elsewhere.

Agatha Christie was the master of this. In And Then There Were None, the solution is shocking but completely supported by the evidence. The misdirection is so skillful that readers don’t question it until the reveal.

Avoid twists that:

• Rely on information the reader couldn’t possibly have known
• Contradict established facts or character behavior
• Exist purely for shock value without serving the story
• Feel arbitrary or random rather than organic

The best twists make readers want to immediately reread the book to catch what they missed.

Practical Tips for Thriller Writers

Beyond understanding the craft, here are actionable strategies to help you actually write your thriller and avoid common pitfalls.

1. Read Widely in the Genre

You can’t write great thrillers without reading them. Study how successful authors build tension, structure twists, and pace their narratives.

Pay attention to what works and what doesn’t. When a book keeps you up past midnight, ask yourself why. As for how a twist lands, go back and find the clues you missed. When pacing drags, identify what killed the momentum.

Read across subgenres too. Domestic thrillers teach different lessons than spy thrillers. Psychological thrillers handle unreliable narrators differently than action-heavy political thrillers. The more you read, the more tools you have.

2. Outline Your Plot Carefully

Thrillers require tighter plotting than almost any other genre. You can’t afford major plot holes or inconsistencies—readers will notice, and it destroys credibility.

Before you start drafting, map out:

• Your protagonist’s journey and goals
• The villain’s plan and motivations
• Key plot points and revelations
• Where clues are planted and when they’re revealed
• Timeline of events (especially important if you’re working with multiple POVs or flashbacks)

This doesn’t mean you can’t deviate during drafting—sometimes better ideas emerge. But having a roadmap prevents you from writing yourself into corners or creating contradictions you’ll have to fix later.

3. Plant Clues Early

If you’re planning a twist, the clues need to be there from the beginning. Readers should be able to solve the mystery if they’re paying close enough attention, but the misdirection should be skillful enough that most won’t.

Go back during revision and ensure your clues are:

• Subtle enough to slip past most readers on first read
• Noticeable enough to feel fair in retrospect
• Integrated naturally into scenes (not obviously planted)

Agatha Christie excelled at this. She’d mention a detail in passing—a comment, an object, a character’s alibi—that seems innocuous until the reveal makes it crucial.

4. Create a Sense of Place

Setting matters in thrillers. A claustrophobic apartment, an isolated mansion, a sprawling city—the environment should amplify tension, not just provide a backdrop.

Use sensory detail to make locations feel real and oppressive. In Sharp Objects, the oppressive Missouri heat and the toxic family home become almost antagonistic forces themselves.

Your setting should:

• Reflect or contrast the internal state of characters
• Create opportunities for danger or isolation
• Feel specific and lived-in, not generic

5. End Chapters on Hooks

One of the simplest ways to maintain momentum is strategic chapter breaks. End chapters on cliffhangers, unanswered questions, or moments of high tension.

This doesn’t mean every chapter needs to end with “And then she saw the body.” It can be:

• A character making a dangerous decision
• A revelation that changes everything
• A question that demands an answer
• An ominous detail that suggests danger ahead

The goal is to make it nearly impossible for readers to put the book down. “Just one more chapter” should be their mantra.

6. Trust Your Reader’s Intelligence

Don’t over-explain. Readers are smart—they can pick up on subtext, connect dots, and follow complex plots if you give them credit.

Avoid:

• Characters explaining things they’d already know just for the reader’s benefit
• Over-telegraphing your twists
• Spelling out every implication or emotional beat

Show the evidence. Let readers draw conclusions. The satisfaction of figuring something out (or almost figuring it out) is part of the thriller experience.

7. Revise for Pacing

First drafts are rarely well-paced. During revision, ruthlessly cut anything that doesn’t advance plot, develop character, or build tension.

Ask yourself of every scene:

• Does this raise stakes or reveal crucial information?
• Does this deepen character or relationships in a way that matters?
• Could I cut this without losing anything essential?

If a scene exists purely for atmosphere or backstory, consider cutting it or folding that information into a more active scene. Thrillers don’t have room for filler.

8. Don’t Neglect the Emotional Arc

Thrillers are plot-driven, but the best ones also have strong emotional arcs. Your protagonist should be changed by the events of the story—whether that’s trauma, growth, loss, or hard-won resilience.

Readers remember how books made them feel more than specific plot details. Make sure the emotional journey is as compelling as the external danger.