Here are some more notes from my participation in this year’s Thrillerfest in New York City. I hope other thriller writers find them to be helpful.
Characters:
· Use the Myers-Briggs 16 character types for ideas
· The protagonists and villains should have lives outside the plot
· Description of characters’ physical appearances needn’t be lengthy
· The MacGuffin/McGuffin: a motivating element in the story that drives the plot, but serves no other purpose; like a question that must be answered, but the answer is immaterial.
· Make your characters work by digging deep for their motivation
o Motivation can be anything, but it must be believable-verisimilitude is key
· Readers identify with characters’ flaws more than virtues
o Revisit your characters: do they have virtues and flaws?
· Tell the story through different characters: multiple viewpoints
· Give each character a voice that differs from all the others
· Make readers care about the characters: either likeable or compelling characters
· Make readers participate by showing the character’s traits, not telling the reader
· Character Arc: redemption is #1, but others include acceptance, change
· 3-dimensioal characters “have skin in the game”
· The antagonist usually drives the plot
· It’s okay to incorporate a character’s action and dialogue in the same paragraph
In my next post, I’ll share some ideas I picked up regarding Agents and Publishers.