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Thrillers - Writing a Bestseller |
Of all the types of fiction written, the one that has consistently captured the reading public's imagination is the thriller. This is surprising when one considers that the genre has been around for barely more than a hundred years - far less than the romance, the comedy, the tragedy or the historical epic.
But in the short space of time that it has been around, the thriller has become the genre of choice for much of the reading public as well as that of many writers seeking to become rich quick. It has also provided much fuel for the movie industry that has grown up in the same period.
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. And the thriller is in any case not a genre: it is a whole family of genres, encompassing mystery, suspense, adventure, politics, technology, espionage and a whole broad range of human experience. The thriller is, in effect, about life - although focusing on the most interesting elements, which are distilled and concentrated into a stylised form.
This ten module course, with its carefully structured approach, aims to separate the myth from the reality in the most practical way. Examples both drawn from published thrillers and written specially for the course to illustrate specific principles and stylistic features.
Each module includes a statement of intent, a reading list, a point summary of the subject matter covered and practical writing assignments to enable the student to practise what he has learned and get feedback on it.
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