Genre of the week: Thriller

This one is similar to action, but generally has a darker tone to it with a side of tension thrown in. I believe it's most often paired up with horror, to keep the viewer on the edge of their seats.

In my opinion, thriller is one of the harder genres to write about. It's tricky to keep the suspense on the page, since you're not viewing the action first hand like in a movie. Also, this is another genre that differs from movies to books. While movies might be all about the visual appeal and cool stunts, books are more likely to go for the behind the scenes tension. There are exceptions, of course, but for the most part, yeah.

As I recently watched The Silence of the Lambs, and that took over Signs as my favorite horror movie, psychological thrillers tend to draw me in. There's something about the smart writing and interesting characters that makes me like it.

I actually think Thriller is most often paired with Mystery, although I haven't read many Horror books. Thriller is, like, all about the tension, and because of that I think movies portray the Thriller genre better than books, because when you're watching the movie, you're seeing the person experiencing the terror of the killer chasing them or vice versa, et cetera, and not to say that a reader can't experience the same things as the main's, but I think that visually viewing it gives the person a better comprehension of the tension and fear and everything that's going on in the plot.

Thriller (which I think tends to be paired with horror and mystery in equal measures) is one of my favourite genres to read, watch and write.

As far as reading it and watching it goes, there's nothing that can equal that slow build up of suspense until your adrenaline is pumping and your imagination is going wild it. It's such a cool feeling and straight up gore will never be able to compare. Special effects have spoiled thriller and horror in some ways, but at least books generally stay true to their essence.

As for writing, I think it is difficult to write that genre but once you get into the correct mindset and it starts flowing out it becomes a bit easier. I find it really enjoyable to take my imagination to that dark place and see what I can create.

I think I experienced more movie thrillers than in written form, though it's been a while since I last watched one. I know Dan Brown's books are considered thrillers and I enjoyed them to an extend (fake history aside).

I agree the hardest part of writing a thriller is building the suspense while getting the tension right. Movies and tv shows does have the advantage of showing the tension more visually, although in written form getting into a character's head can be just as effective.

Most of my reading experience in the field of thriller are Agatha Christie's works (no surprise being the Queen of Crime). I guess the reason why it's usually paired with horror or mystery is due to the characteristic atmosphere those two genres are accompanied with that enhance and make it easier to build the suspense in thriller writing.

Weiss Schnee said:

Most of my reading experience in the field of thriller are Agatha Christie's works (no surprise being the Queen of Crime). I guess the reason why it's usually paired with horror or mystery is due to the characteristic atmosphere those two genres are accompanied with that enhance and make it easier to build the suspense in thriller writing.

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You've pretty much hit the nail on the head there. I don't think that these genres are necessarily paired with thriller intentionally, rather the nature of the horror and mystery genres results in the natural incorporation of thriller aspects. I sometimes wonder if it is actually right to consider thriller a genre, oftentimes it feels more like a writing technique to support horrors, mysteries or adventures than a genre unto itself.