The Writer’s Corner: The Craft of Writing Political Thrillers

Most aspiring authors are told, “Read everything you possibly can. Read in your genre. Read out of your genre. Mix in non-fiction with your fiction. Make sure your library is deep and wide, so that you have many perspectives from which you can pull.” I’ve certainly given this advice myself many times to many audiences.

However, there is another nugget that I believe is essential to deepening the authorial well. Yes, an author must read a lot. But to be able to produce a rich, real, well-rounded story, an author must also live a lot.

The world of writing is often a lonely one. Much of the time it is simply the author, a cup of coffee, and a computer—although there are probably still some around who eschew the digital keyboard for a typewriter or a pad and pen. In that little bubble, it is easy to get isolated, cut off from people, and withdrawn from the events of the world outside one’s office walls. This type of distancing from reality will eventually find its way into a writer’s stories. If someone spends their days writing in a cave, eventually everything they write is going to start sounding a little cavey.

Certainly, there are some genres that allow for a greater disconnect from the real world. Fantasy and science fiction give authors latitude to create alternate peoples and nations and customs. Poets and philosophers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau escaped to the woods where there were no outside distractions to interfere with their delving deep into their own minds to search for beauty and explanations for life.

But a thriller writer doesn’t have that escapist luxury. The reader of this genre demands more than just excitement. Thriller action must be plausible, the relationships must be believable, and most importantly, the plot must be grounded in the real world. When a reader sees something in a story that makes them step back and say, “Wait, that’s not right,” it is very likely that they will label the author as uninformed and the book as not worth their time.

I work hard to ensure that my readers will never question my stories’ connection to reality. I read a ton, and I do a ton of research to weave in my novels. However, I have to look to more than a computer screen. I travel all over the world. I seek out all kinds of experts and ask them a million questions. I experience life.

Now granted, not everyone has the time or means to visit other countries or converse with heads of state. But often just talking with regular people and hearing their stories offers a rich trove of material for an author. Joining a club or attending a church or getting involved with activities within your neighborhood can provide you with a wide range of personalities that you can draw from for your own characters. You’ll hear all kinds of funny and quirky lines you never could have come up with on your own. You’ll see all kinds of odd and offbeat mannerisms you never would have thought of. And suddenly the characters who populate your stories will feel real to the reader because they are drawn from or inspired from real people.

So, beware of the bubble. Don’t allow yourself to become insulated. Pro-actively interact with the world around you and do it with open eyes. Always be looking for what you can draw on to enrich and deepen your characters. Book and online learning are essential, but there is nothing better for enhancing the reality of your stories than turning off the computer, shutting down the Kindle, reshelving the book, and breaking out of your bubble.