Drafting a Thriller: Part I - The Seeds

(For the full experience with formatting and photographs and lovingly created assets, head on over to https://marinainthemeadow.substack.com/)

I thought I would chronicle my journey of writing my first thriller. My books have had thriller-esque subplots in the past, but this is my first dedicated genre thriller! What a ride it has been. However, this isn’t your bog-standard thriller book of the category. It isn’t a Riley Sager, that’s for sure. It’s a lot more nuanced, a little more literary, and it’s also quite speculative. Oh, and there’s also a great romance arc. My CP, Rachel Greenlaw (who I don’t think is subscribed to my substack so she’ll never know I told you all this mwahaha), said to me that my book reminds her of a cross between Gillian McAllister and Adrienne Young. High praise indeed! I’d like that to live here forever, so if I’m ever in doubt about this story, I can be reminded of its place.

Now that you have the gist, or at least, a bit of the flavour of my book, let’s go back to the very beginning.

I had this idea that drew from a documentary I watched (I’ll share the link to that further down the road) and I borrowed parts from another book I’d dreamed up a year before that really didn’t go anywhere. Thus, my thriller was born.

Usually, my books start out as all vibes, no plot.

This book was no different. CORAL was born on the wings of the documentary I mentioned earlier, but also supported by my main character, who came to me in an obsessive rush.

“What if…” my notes always begin when I am playing with new ideas.

“What if the main character, who feels things deeply, and works as a [profession redacted] is the main suspect for his best friend’s murder.”

That’s it! Vague, but just the base I needed to build from.

I knew exactly the atmosphere I wanted to achieve for this book too, I could practically see the colours of this book, feel the weather. So I curated a Pinterest board and a playlist.

Then I dreamed and I dreamed.

This is no different from how I write my other books.

The difference began in the plotting. I am not a ridgid plotter, but I need a plot to guide me through. I often derail and need to set new tracks, but usually initial plots & outlines come easily to me. Plotting a thriller, however, would not be so easy.

I couldn’t start from the beginning. I had to work backwards in every way. Before I began, I needed to know who the killer would be.

Once I knew who the killer was, I needed to place some careful red herrings. But I couldn’t place the red herrings until I knew the story—but I couldn’t know the story until I plotted! It was a vicious circle. I focused for a while on the events that happened before the book opens, before the initial murder. My plot began to evolve, branch into subplots. The romance that drives this book also blossomed and became filled with angst.

In March, I’ll be sharing what this phase of my process usually looks like in much more detail. From creating playlists to how I use my WIP notebook.

If anything, this book has been a test in patience.

If you’re a Meadow Wildflower (a paid subscriber) you’ll be familiar with this struggle of mine. But more on that to come later for everyone… Stay tuned!

Every book teaches us knew things, we evolve with each one, and, like I always say, we are never the same writer as the end of the book as the one who began it. What has your current WIP (work in progress) taught you lately?

Happy writing, wild ones!
Marina xx