Of all the types of fiction written, the one that
consistently captures the reading public's imagination is the thriller. A relatively
recent invention, the thriller has come to dominate the modern fiction market.
The reasons for this are many - but perhaps the most important is that the thriller
can itself be many other kinds of book.. This allows the thriller writer enormous
scope in planning and creating a story - the sub-genre is as important as the
'thriller' part itself. The thriller is not, in fact, a genre at all - it is a
whole family of genres encompassing mystery, suspense, adventure, politics, espionage,
and the whole broad range of human experience. The thriller is, in effect, about
life - although focussing on the most interesting elements, which are distilled
and concentrated into a stylised form.
It is this link, however tenuous, between reality
and escapism that has led Hollywood to rely on the thriller to feed fifty years
of movie history - and to create a new form of worldwide cultural iconography.
Perhaps it is because of this link that the thriller has also become the choice
for many writers seeking to be an instant success - because the rewards can in
many cases seem disproportionate in relation to the effort.
Even so, writing thrillers is by no means a path
to easy riches - for each well-known success story there are tens of thousands
of anonymous failures.
This ten lesson course, with its carefully structured
approach, aims to separate the reality from the myth in the most practical way.
Examples are drawn from both published thrillers and from pieces written specifically
for the course to illustrate particular principles and stylistic features.
Each lesson includes a statement of intent, a
reading list, a point summary of the subject matter covered and writing assignments
to enable the student to practise what has been learned and to get feedback on
it.
10 modules, with the assignments varied according to your requirements.
