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How to Write a Damn Good Thriller: A Step-By-Step Guide for Novelists and Screenwriters

by James N. Frey

A craft guide for building thriller fiction from first idea to final climax

Regular price $27.60 USD
Regular price $46.01 USD Sale price $27.60 USD
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Hardcover New English

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A craft guide for building thriller fiction from first idea to final climax

James N. Frey organizes thriller writing as a practical, stage-by-stage process for novelists and screenwriters. The book moves from developing an initial premise and shaping characters to constructing openings, scenes, conflict, sustained tension, twists, and climactic resolution. Examples from both novels and films place its advice across two storytelling forms, while the emphasis remains on the structural components that give a thriller momentum and escalating stakes. It is a focused guide to planning, drafting, and revising within the genre rather than a general introduction to fiction writing.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Aspiring thriller novelists
  • Screenwriters developing suspense-driven stories
  • Writers seeking craft guidance on tension, conflict, twists, and climaxes

Themes

Thriller writing craftStory structureCharacter developmentSuspense and tensionScreenwriting and fiction

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

From the internationally bestselling author of books on the craft of writing comes James N. Frey's How to Write a Damn Good Thriller.

This book will help the aspiring novelist or screenwriter to design, draft, write, and polish a thriller that is sure to grab readers. Frey uses examples from both books and movies and addresses the following hot topics:

*Germinal ideas
*Breathing life into great thriller characters
*Crafting a gripping opening
*Maintaining tension
*Creating obstacles and conflicts
*Writing a mean, lean thriller scene
*Adding surprise twists
*Building a smashing climax
and many more.

In his trademark approachable and humorous style, Frey illuminates the building blocks of great thrillers and gives the reader the tools to write his or her own.

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