I sent off (to Walmart - free 2-day shipping - and got a copy of Lee Child's Killing Floor, hoping it was the mass media version - and it was. Once I got it, I put off my other schedule for the day to scan and OCR it to read and savor that introduction. (Their text was tiny.)
Child says quite a bit about the how and why of building a character, particularly Reacher.
I'd separately gotten a copy of Walter Gibson's article and see how he (roughly) said that the hero is the plot. These two write-ups tend to expand on each other.
A third reference I had was from Foster Harris, in his Formulas of Fiction, where he points out that you "can't separate the character from his plot problems" (He helped run the OU Professional Writing program during the Golden Age of Pulp Magazines.)
These three seem to go in the same direction - that the reader wants you to tell the story through the eyes and senses of the main VP character - so that reader can immerse themselves thoroughly.
I picked up a book he edited "How to Write a Mystery", but haven't read it yet. The more I hear about him, the more interested in his writing I am. I did love the movies and the tv series based on his books.
So, I have a question:
Is there such a thing as a "cozy thriller"?
i.e. - can you write thrillers without all the cussing and graphic stuff? Or is that what really makes it a thriller? Or mystery?
I know there are heist movies that aren't based on murder, that are still thriller.
I guess I'm just not sure what qualifies as each of those genre?
Like:
"The Transporter"
"The Italian Job"
"Leverage" (Original)
"White Collar"
"Jack Reacher"
"The Mentalist"
"Lie to Me"
"The Listener"
"Criminal Minds"
"Swat"
"Bones"
"The Pretender"
"Murdock"
"The Destroyer"
Early "Blacklist"
These are all ones that I liked/like, but I don't know how they are separated, for if I wanted to write something like them (Okay, I am writing something like them, that is kind of Cop and Consultant based, but don't know what that is called, either.)
I sent off (to Walmart - free 2-day shipping - and got a copy of Lee Child's Killing Floor, hoping it was the mass media version - and it was. Once I got it, I put off my other schedule for the day to scan and OCR it to read and savor that introduction. (Their text was tiny.)
Child says quite a bit about the how and why of building a character, particularly Reacher.
I'd separately gotten a copy of Walter Gibson's article and see how he (roughly) said that the hero is the plot. These two write-ups tend to expand on each other.
A third reference I had was from Foster Harris, in his Formulas of Fiction, where he points out that you "can't separate the character from his plot problems" (He helped run the OU Professional Writing program during the Golden Age of Pulp Magazines.)
These three seem to go in the same direction - that the reader wants you to tell the story through the eyes and senses of the main VP character - so that reader can immerse themselves thoroughly.
I picked up a book he edited "How to Write a Mystery", but haven't read it yet. The more I hear about him, the more interested in his writing I am. I did love the movies and the tv series based on his books.
So, I have a question:
Is there such a thing as a "cozy thriller"?
i.e. - can you write thrillers without all the cussing and graphic stuff? Or is that what really makes it a thriller? Or mystery?
I know there are heist movies that aren't based on murder, that are still thriller.
I guess I'm just not sure what qualifies as each of those genre?
Like:
"The Transporter"
"The Italian Job"
"Leverage" (Original)
"White Collar"
"Jack Reacher"
"The Mentalist"
"Lie to Me"
"The Listener"
"Criminal Minds"
"Swat"
"Bones"
"The Pretender"
"Murdock"
"The Destroyer"
Early "Blacklist"
These are all ones that I liked/like, but I don't know how they are separated, for if I wanted to write something like them (Okay, I am writing something like them, that is kind of Cop and Consultant based, but don't know what that is called, either.)
Thanks.