In these days of rising costs and financial funk, writers are having to take a harder look at the bottom line, which often means cutting out trips to conferences, especially far-flung ones like the Maui Writers Conference earlier this month. In case you did miss it, Lee Pletzers has kindly listed the "10 Basic Ingredients of a Successful Thriller," which author Gary Braver (Flashback, Gray Matter) discussed at the conference. A lot of these are similar to what other writers in other crime fiction genres will tell you, but they're important enough to reiterate, especially #1, which really is number one, "You need to have a good story."
Another thriller writer at the same conference, Steve Berry (The Venetian Betrayal, The Templar Legacy), had a different take on the craft with his "8 Rules of Writing." The first is the both the most frustrating and the most liberating, "There are no rules. You can do anything you want as long as it works." The problem, of course, is learning how to write "what works," and realizing that the definition of that concept can vary from one reader, one agent, one editor, and one publisher to another.
A third thriller writer, Patrick Lennon (Steel Witches, Corn Dolls), was one of the many authors appearing at the first ever Reading (UK) Festival of Crime Writing last week. You can both listen to and read some of his writing tips on the BBC's web site.
Writer's Digest is also helping out with its Writers Sessions On Demand. They've collected instructional sessions, workshops, panel discussions and interviews from ThrillerFest and the Maui Writers Conference (coming soon). They're not free, as you have to purchase the streaming videos individually or in a bundle, but it's still much less expensive than what it would cost to attend the conference (especially factoring in airfare, hotel, food, etc.).
Ultimately, nothing can replace the face-to-face contacts a writer makes at a conference, but it's nice to know there are a few options to help out while you're waiting for that winning lottery ticke
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