How to write a guaranteed bestselling thriller - CrimeSpace2024-03-28T10:20:14Zhttps://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/how-to-write-a-guaranteed?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A243561&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI reread the title of this di…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-27:537324:Comment:2439072010-07-27T21:40:02.383ZJackBludishttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JackBludis
I reread the title of this discussion.<br />
<br />
There is no way to write a "guaranteed" bestselling Thriller. But here's a quote I picked up in the New York Times within the last year that touches on the subject:<br />
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"A novel can, and should, do many things, but a thriller need do only one. If it thrills, it succeeds, and if it does not, no matter how well it does everything else, it fails."<br />
--Quote from Richard Lourie, reviewing a thriller.
I reread the title of this discussion.<br />
<br />
There is no way to write a "guaranteed" bestselling Thriller. But here's a quote I picked up in the New York Times within the last year that touches on the subject:<br />
<br />
"A novel can, and should, do many things, but a thriller need do only one. If it thrills, it succeeds, and if it does not, no matter how well it does everything else, it fails."<br />
--Quote from Richard Lourie, reviewing a thriller. I really like Eliade better t…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-27:537324:Comment:2438902010-07-27T19:15:38.429ZI. J. Parkerhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
I really like Eliade better than Campbell, but quite right about the archetype of the hero and the journey. Still, that doesn't make every book that has a hero or a journey in it good.<br />
I think you're absolutely right about Reacher, though. Not all of the novels are very good, and there is a certain amount of cheap thrills in them, but the Reacher character works marvellously well. In the latest, he appears out of nowhere and disappears at the end, leaving the reader wondering if he got blown…
I really like Eliade better than Campbell, but quite right about the archetype of the hero and the journey. Still, that doesn't make every book that has a hero or a journey in it good.<br />
I think you're absolutely right about Reacher, though. Not all of the novels are very good, and there is a certain amount of cheap thrills in them, but the Reacher character works marvellously well. In the latest, he appears out of nowhere and disappears at the end, leaving the reader wondering if he got blown up. That moves Reacher into the realm of the supernatural. Well said, Wes.tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-27:537324:Comment:2438582010-07-27T16:16:25.603ZLindy Cameronhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Lindycameron
Well said, Wes.
Well said, Wes. My thoughts on this have alre…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-27:537324:Comment:2438552010-07-27T15:53:54.918ZWes Millerhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/WesMiller
My thoughts on this have already more or less been opined by others here. So I'll just quote someone else, and move on from there:<br />
<br />
"Whether we listen to aloof amusement to the dreamlike mumbo jumbo of some red-eyed witch doctor of the Congo, or read with cultivated rapture thin translations from the sonnets of the mystic Lao-tse; now and again crack the hard nutshell of an argument of Aquinas, or catch suddenly the shining meaning of a mizarre Eskimo fairy tale: it will always be the one,…
My thoughts on this have already more or less been opined by others here. So I'll just quote someone else, and move on from there:<br />
<br />
"Whether we listen to aloof amusement to the dreamlike mumbo jumbo of some red-eyed witch doctor of the Congo, or read with cultivated rapture thin translations from the sonnets of the mystic Lao-tse; now and again crack the hard nutshell of an argument of Aquinas, or catch suddenly the shining meaning of a mizarre Eskimo fairy tale: it will always be the one, shape-shifting yet marvelously constant story that we find, together with a challengingly persistent suggestion of more remaining to be experienced than will ever be known or told." --Joseph Campbell, THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES<br />
<br />
I keep a copy of that book on my desk, and find it often quite useful for discussions like this--and to explain why I enjoy, and don't think one should feel guilty or stupid for enjoying, certain types of thrillers discussed here.<br />
<br />
I was recently reading a book that argues the first thriller of all time is the second piece of all Western literature--The Odyssey. An archetype that continue to resonate down to thrillers of the present across different forms of media--for instance, Nolan's INCEPTION, which, whether or not you want or not you want to quantify it as a valuable work of art, is esentially the same hero-adrift-and-seperated-from-family archetype as that Classic.<br />
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I've heard it said that Lee Child's thrillers are formulaic and therefore lacking in artistic merit. Yet his series hearkens back to the knight-errant model popularized in Medieval literature--which can likely be traced back further as well. If there's a pattern to these stories, that doesn't necessarily mean they must also lack in impact or thematic weight as well--in fact, at times, it's evidence of something essential, a quest archetype that often shows up in our dreams as well as our most favorite and treasured stories. Always luck is involved, from…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-26:537324:Comment:2437832010-07-26T21:23:16.104ZJackBludishttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JackBludis
Always luck is involved, from catching the first reader, to catching an editor, to catching the marketing department with a big, fat "we can sell this."<br />
<br />
I've heard rumor that that was how "The DaVinci Code" was sold. Criticize as we might "The DaVinci Code" touched a nerve that made it a best seller. It was marketed, but all the advertising in the world wouldn't have me read it except that it was praised by readers (not critics) that I respected.<br />
<br />
It takes luck to get the editor to promote,…
Always luck is involved, from catching the first reader, to catching an editor, to catching the marketing department with a big, fat "we can sell this."<br />
<br />
I've heard rumor that that was how "The DaVinci Code" was sold. Criticize as we might "The DaVinci Code" touched a nerve that made it a best seller. It was marketed, but all the advertising in the world wouldn't have me read it except that it was praised by readers (not critics) that I respected.<br />
<br />
It takes luck to get the editor to promote, even though that luck may come with the name of the author having been someone important or at least popular first.<br />
<br />
Luck, believe it or not, is one of the things that economist note as an ingredient for success. Not luck (or very, very rarel…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-26:537324:Comment:2437662010-07-26T21:06:11.488ZI. J. Parkerhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
Not luck (or very, very rarely). Promotion!
Not luck (or very, very rarely). Promotion! My sense is that those folks…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-26:537324:Comment:2437582010-07-26T20:18:59.301ZJim Thomsenhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JamesRobertThomsenJr
My sense is that those folks who are complaining about Cornwell and Evanovich books are longtime fans who are reacting to a growing sense that the Kay Scarpetta and Stephanie Plum series(es?) peaked some time ago and have gone downhill since with each new book, that the writers have lost interest in them and are simply churning them out for the royalty checks. (Can't say I disagree in either case.)
My sense is that those folks who are complaining about Cornwell and Evanovich books are longtime fans who are reacting to a growing sense that the Kay Scarpetta and Stephanie Plum series(es?) peaked some time ago and have gone downhill since with each new book, that the writers have lost interest in them and are simply churning them out for the royalty checks. (Can't say I disagree in either case.) How so?tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-26:537324:Comment:2437572010-07-26T20:11:24.374ZJim Thomsenhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JamesRobertThomsenJr
How so?
How so? There is nothing wrong with a…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-26:537324:Comment:2437542010-07-26T20:03:57.092ZI. J. Parkerhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
There is nothing wrong with archetypes. There may be a lot wrong with certain books even if they seem to use some archetype.<br />
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Archetypes are quite ancient. I'm not sure Bluebeard qualifies. Or Dracula. (Oh, yes. while I'm at it: I think vampire books are utter shlock, too.)
There is nothing wrong with archetypes. There may be a lot wrong with certain books even if they seem to use some archetype.<br />
<br />
Archetypes are quite ancient. I'm not sure Bluebeard qualifies. Or Dracula. (Oh, yes. while I'm at it: I think vampire books are utter shlock, too.) Actually, I've encountered th…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2010-07-26:537324:Comment:2437532010-07-26T20:01:35.990ZI. J. Parkerhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
Actually, I've encountered this several times now. In fact, the Cornwell and Evanovich reactions have been on mystery web sites.
Actually, I've encountered this several times now. In fact, the Cornwell and Evanovich reactions have been on mystery web sites.