PLOT THREAD: Thriller

20231017

The Thriller Plot Thread are stories where regular people (ordinary folk/folx) get caught up in extraordinary circumstances. It could be them being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it could be them unknowingly walking into a dangerous situation, or it could be the end of the world.

A thriller is about the prot being in danger, being chased… or they need to stop a time bomb, because otherwise, everyone will be killed. The tension doesn’t let up. Constant anxiety for the reader.

Usually…

If being chased, the prot’s stakes would be low (e.g. survive, figure out who’s doing this, and clear their name).
If prot is chasing a villain, the stakes could be world ending. (e.g. stop the bus, deliver the prisoner, get to the bomb). Something really bad has to happen if they fail.

A few examples of these stories could be…

FRAMED: Prot is framed, either intentionally or intentionally (wrong place, wrong time), for a crime they didn’t commit. They are now on the run from the police/authorities, while trying to absolve their name.
TOWER DEFENSE: Prot is caught in an enclosed place where it is being attacked, where hostages are held, and/or a home invasion. The Prot must figure out who’s doing this, why, try to get help, but ultimately fight them off themselves, and survive.
ESCAPE: Prot lives in an abusive relationship, oppressive society, or dystopian world but isn’t aware of (or doesn’t care) how bad things are until a straw breaks the camel’s back. The Prot needs to escape from this situation.
END OF WORLD: Prot (and allies) are caught in a war, pandemic, disaster, disease, or famine. This is all about survival before it all ends. Or not. Killing a bunch of humans makes for a good story too.
ABANDONED: Prot is left behind, lost, or crashed into unfamiliar territory (wilderness, strange new world). Prot must use their wits and limited resources to survive.

Some notes on writing thrillers: Use short chapters with cliffhangers. Even dirty ones like: “and then he opened the door”. Use short timeframes prot has to outrace. Set off a TIME-BOMB (if you don’t get X done by Y, Z happens). Not just in every chapter, every scene. You’re hacking the brain to create adrenaline. The page-turner. Use tricks like a larger font, wider margins. Makes you read more of a book. Patterson novels are 65k words but looks like a thick epic fantasy. Chapter breaks to keep pace up. Put resting spots in the middle of the chapter. Minimize sequels, less time to process. Spend more time with doing and things done to the characters.

When compared to horror:

Horror is existential dread, thriller is constant anxiety.
Horror you don’t know what’s coming, thriller you know.
Thriller must have a promise of safety, that if you keep running, you’ll eventually get to safety, whereas horror does not.
In horror, you’re dreading the threat whereas the threat is imminent in thrillers.

Thriller Plot Thread: Key Elements

INNOCENT HERO: Average schmo, minding your own business. These are prots we identify with because they are us!
SUDDEN EVENT: At the wrong place at the wrong time, gets caught up, offered a job, a temptation. Drawn in without warning. Wasn’t looking for trouble.
- Plane crash in wilderness. Runs afoul of secret agents. Only person who can do anything about a hostage situation. A home invasion.
- A disease or Kafkaesque bureacratic nightmare. A pandemic. A dystopian. A war. Natural disaster.
- You find something out about the family/network/circle you work/live with that you weren’t supposed to.
TEST OF SURVIVAL: And now they need to use their “everyday skills” and be super-resourceful to survive. It’s about our “hidden strength”. The end of the movie is a “triumph of spirit”.
EYE OF THE STORM: A partner or the one friendly ally who offers help in a sea of trouble. Doesn’t have to be a love interest. Provides space to discuss what’s happening.

Thriller Plot Thread: Progress Bar

Because the prot is thrown into chaos, they need to first figure out how much trouble they’re in, who the enemy is, while also being on the run and/or defending themselves until they gather enough pieces of the puzzle to fight back. It’s an action-driven mystery. They didn’t ask for it but they have to solve it or… die.

Thriller Plot Thread: Plot Beats

STASIS: Establish how normal and average the Prot is. Show them at work being competent. Use this as foreshadowing for the skills/tools/relationships they’ll rely on later. Or dealing with domestic problem. Or just living their regular life. Just enough to establish a baseline of normalcy before they head into the situation that entraps them.

“Framed” Thriller Plot Thread

STASIS: see above.
DISRUPTION: Prot discovers/sees/witnesses something they weren’t supposed to and now the Antag has to deal with them. Antag could be family/work/network. Antag could be complete strangers. OR Prot is “set up”, accidentally or not, as a fall guy. Or caught at the wrong place/time and now the suspect for a crime they didn’t commit. Or there’s a “mistaken identity” problem where Prot is thought to be some “legendary figure” or “infamous criminal”
B-WORLD: The chase. Prot is on the run and trying to figure out what the fuck kind of trouble they’re in. Prot begins to gathers what little facts they can. Names. Locations. Prot tries to get outside authorities to help. They don’t really help. OR Prot is given bad advice from those that “care for them” like stay put, or keep your head down, or report it to the authorities. OR If Prot “goes in” to HQ or meets up with their boss, the problem/trouble is exacerbated to show the Prot they are truly alone and they have to figure this out themselves. Maybe person who could’ve cleared their name dies, or is hospitalized, or betrays prot.
LOW-to-MIDPOINT: Prot finds an “eye of the storm” ally. Someone who’s on their side they can trust and unload on. But they put this person at risk as well. A countdown is revealed. Either the prot has to do X by Y, or Z (They only have so much time to clear their name.)… or the antag has to do something (kill the prot so they get blamed for it all). There’s a clear race now.
LOWPOINT: Moment of vulnerability. Some sort of distraction like sex, meditation, that really clears the prot’s head to figure things out. Or a confession between eye of storm and prot: a past mistake, a sad reason why they’re here (dead child, dead wife). Truth revealed that the escapee isn’t who they say they are. OR Clash with henchmen. Eye of the Storm who may have not believed prot’s crazy story earlier, now believes. Or infighting amongst the allies. They can’t beleive they got themselves into this situation. Blame each other. AND/OR if prot doesn’t know what antag looks like, have antag “bump” into the prot for recon purposes. Or have antag creep on prot. Spy on them. AND/OR Antag gathers enough intel about the prot to figure out they’re NOT the person they’re after, but also, finds out where their loved ones live and threatens them as well.
CLIMAX: Prot comes up with plan to take it to the bad guys. Using own skills/resources plus what they learned while being “on the run” (suspicion and deception maybe)… they counterattack. Clear their own name. Maybe in the final confrontation, the Antag monologues and reveals the conspiracy. It’s a political move that’s way above the prot’s paygrade. They just got in the way.

“Tower Defense” Thriller Plot Thread

STASIS: see above.
DISRUPTION: Prot is placed into a hostage/trapped situation where they need to fight to get out. Home invasion. Terrorist attack. The situation needs to be in an enclosed setting: a locked tower, a ship, an airplane, a moving bus. You use the same claustrophobic setting as the Horror Plot Thread, except you know who the bad guys are, and it’s anxiety. Not dread.
B-WORLD: The defense. Prot sets up and plans how to defend themselves… even as the antagonist starts scoping out the joint, sending minions, or scouting forays. Start setting traps, or have minor fights with the minions. Taunt the big bad. Cat-and-mouse. Prot begins to gathers what little facts they can. Names. Locations. Prot tries to get outside authorities to help. They don’t really help.
MID-to-LOWPOINT: Prot finds an “eye of the storm” ally maybe. Someone who’ll finally listen to them from the outside world. A countdown is revealed. Either the prot has to do X by Y, or Z… or the antag has to do something. (Or prot meets the “real foe” and barely get away). There’s a clear race now.
LOWPOINT: Clash with henchmen. Eye of the Storm who may have not believed prot’s crazy story earlier, now believes. Or infighting amongst the allies. They can’t believe they got themselves into this situation. Blame each other. AND/OR if prot doesn’t know what antag looks like, have antag “bump” into the prot for recon purposes. Or have antag creep on prot. Spy on them. OR Antag gathers enough intel about the prot to figure out they’re NOT the person they’re after, but also, finds out where their loved ones live and threatens them as well.
CLIMAX: Prot comes up with plan to take it to the bad guys. Using own skills/resources plus what they learned while being “on the run” (suspicion and deception maybe)… they counterattack.

“Escape” Thriller Plot Thread

STASIS: see above, except this one, show the unique rules of this world and how it’s different from ours.
DISRUPTION: Prot discovers/sees/witnesses something they weren’t supposed to and now the Antag has to deal with them. Antag could be family/work/network. Antag could be complete strangers. OR they see something routine in a new light. Their conscience kicks in. They question their world’s morals.
B-WORLD: Prot looks for or is given an opportunity or creates a ruse to get out of the situation they’re in. Prot is given bad advice from those that “care for them” like stay put, or keep your head down, or report it to the authorities. But Prot is too curious and starts their own investigation. Starts questioning. OR If they bring it up to the “right authorities”, they get into a lot more trouble. OR a critical ally dies, or is hospitalized, or betrays prot for asking too many questions.
MID-to-LOWPOINT: Character starts seeing their own world in a different light. “Are we the bad guys?” Prot finds an “eye of the storm” ally maybe. A countdown is revealed. Either the prot has to do X by Y, or Z… or the antag figured out the Prot has escaped, they they faked their death or something, and the hunt for them begins again. Or the prot meets the “real boss” behind all this.
LOWPOINT: Moment of vulnerability. Some sort of distraction like sex, meditation, that really clears the prot’s head to figure things out. Or a confession between eye of storm and prot: a past mistake, a sad reason why they’re here (dead child, dead wife). Truth revealed that the escapee isn’t who they say they are. OR Clash with henchmen. Eye of the Storm who may have not believed prot’s crazy story earlier, now believes. Or infighting amongst the allies. They can’t believe they got themselves into this situation. Blame each other. AND/OR if prot doesn’t know what antag looks like, have antag “bump” into the prot for recon purposes. Or have antag creep on prot. Spy on them.
CLIMAX: Prot figures out how to escape and enacts the plan. Maybe in the final confrontation, the Antag monologues and reveals the rules of this world and how it was set up and why it’s set up this way.

“End Of World” Thriller Plot Thread

STASIS: see above. But have a news channel foreshadowing the war, pandemic, disaster, apocalypse, invasion, monster, whatever it is your story is about.
DISRUPTION: The “end of the world” thing you hinted at affects them personally. They go into survival mode. Try to leave the city, gather emergency supplies, find their loved ones.
B-WORLD: Prot(s) decide what they’ll do with their lives given everything is about to end. Some give up. Some shut down. Some draw their loved ones closer. Some decide to fight anyway. What are your life priorities?
MID-to-LOWPOINT: The head authorities have a “plan”. The plan to fight the war, vaccinate distribution, whatever. It’s a global response to a global problem. Prot is somehow caught up in this. This plan probably won’t work. But the plan is a countdown. They have this “one chance” to get it done “before it’s too late”. OR plan A failed, plan B is in effect. It is a drastic plan. Maybe only save X number of lives by lottery. Maybe a special ops response team. Martial law.
LOWPOINT: Hollow victories for “end of world” plot. Everyone gets what they want but it’s a shitty bargain. What’s the point of getting married, getting laid, getting a promotion, or winning a battle if the end of the world is still coming? It’s our last chance to be human before it ends.
CLIMAX: Prot or someone figures out a last ditch effort plan that is suicidal. They volunteer to be sacrificed for humanity. The plan works. Or not.

“Abandoned” Thriller Plot Thread

STASIS: see above.
DISRUPTION: Prot is accidentally (or intentionally) left alone, lost, or crashed in the wilderness or urban wild or some strange world.
B-WORLD: Prot(s) have to learn the rules of this new environment and navigate it. Figure out how to survive. Show them encountering obstacles, barriers, flora, fauna, and limitations that are unusual to the audience (the fun in these stories is the setting that wants to kill the hero).
MID-to-LOWPOINT: They make contact with the outside world maybe and there’s a plan to save them, but that plan won’t come to fruition for X-number of days, so the prot is still alone. It’s literal survival running out of air, food, resources. Bad things happen. Things are running out.
CLIMAX: Allies arrive to save the prot. Helicopter flies in, ambulances arrive, prot and allies are in foil blankets, etc. etc.

Sources & Resources

Snyder, Blake. Save the Cat Goes to the Movies. Michael Wiese Productions, 2007.
Sanderson, Brandon, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells, hosts. “11.27: The Elemental Thriller.” Writing Excuses, season 11, episode 27, Dragonsteel Production, 3 July 2016, https://writingexcuses.com/11-27-the-elemental-thriller/
Sanderson, Brandon, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells, hosts. “11.29: Elemental Thriller As a Subgenre.” Writing Excuses, season 11, episode 29, Dragonsteel Production, 17 July 2016, https://writingexcuses.com/11-29-elemental-thriller-as-a-subgenre/
Sanderson, Brandon, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells, hosts. “11.30: Elemental Thriller Q&A.” Writing Excuses, season 11, episode 30, Dragonsteel Production, 24 July 2016, https://writingexcuses.com/11-30-elemental-thriller-qa/
“Lecture #2: Plot Part 1 — Brandon Sanderson on Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy” YouTube, uploaded by Brandon Sanderson, January 29, 2020, https://youtu.be/jrIogch5DBU
“Lecture #3: Plot Part 2 — Brandon Sanderson on Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy” YouTube, uploaded by Brandon Sanderson, February 12, 2020, https://youtu.be/Qgbsz7Gnrd8

All other plot thread notes here