Megan Davidhizar on crafting a twisty thriller such as Gaslit

When a night of babysitting ends in tragedy, Ella is left with survivor’s guilt and a growing suspicion that the gas leak that killed her aunt was no accident. As her concerns are dismissed in light of a recent health diagnosis, Ella must decide who to trust as secrets, lies, and betrayal rise to the surface. In this guest post, Megan Davidhizar shares her top tips for crafting an unputdownable thriller, drawing on the tension, twists, and emotional truth that power Gaslit.

Guest post written by Megan Davidhizar, author of Gaslit. 

Creating a story that leaves your reader gasping and flipping pages is no easy feat. With the publication of my second thriller Gaslit on the horizon, I’ve compiled my top tips to help you write your own.

1. Read in your genre. Before you begin writing, it’s important to know what current thrillers are doing. This ensures you can meet genre expectations and also add a new spin on that hasn’t been done before. Even though I write YA, I also read adult thrillers to keep ideas fresh and stay current on the market.
2. Subvert expectations. This can applies to genre expectations, but you can also look smaller than that. I once learned characters only share a plan with the audience if it’s going to go horribly wrong. It’s proven true in every successful movie, show, and book I’ve experienced since. Once the reader knows what’s supposed to happen, it’s exciting to have that expectation flipped on its head. This also helps make twists more impactful. If a piece of the story feels expected, rather than changing it, go backwards and set the expectation to be something entirely different. Voila!
3. Start with the end in mind. Now this advice definitely doesn’t work for every writer. However, for me, it is crucial. Once I know the ending, I’m able to work backwards to find the best premise to set it up. I spend more time brainstorming endings than any other part of the story. Thriller readers expect a good ending, and you definitely want to deliver.
4. Red herring your red herring. When I construct a thriller, I anticipate that most readers of the genre will automatically rule out anyone my character suspects. As a result, I make sure that not only my character follows a red herring, but my readers do too. I drop clues my character doesn’t register, anticipating my readers will, but even those are leading to the wrong conclusion. The best thrillers are ones with twists that the reader can look back on and see laid out all along.
5. Don’t forget your character. As compelling as a mystery may be–with perfect pacing and creeping suspense, well-hidden clues and a thrilling twist (or two!)–without a strong character, you risk the reader losing interest. Crafting a strong character ensures the rest of the story pops off the page. If you’re not sure where to start, read outside your genre too! Romance books work as wonderful mentors for character arcs.

Gaslit by Megan Davidhizar is out Jan 15 (HarperFire).