Tag Archives: writing thrillers

Confession: When Maria and Beckie first invited me to be part of Restless Writers, I put them off. I was working full time. My kids were young. I wouldn’t be able to fit in one more thing…

I had no shortage of excuses to cover up the truth which was, I was scared I wasn’t good enough. I had very specific things in my mind about what a writer should be. They are someone who carefully crafts an outline, mapping out their entire novel before ever putting a word on a page. More than likely, they are someone who hops on a plane to learn more about a locale central to their story. Or one who interviews a veteran detective to get inside the mind of their main character. These were not things I was doing. I was just winging it.

While I eventually took the leap and joined our merry band of RWs, that annoying doubt that I didn’t have the discipline to be a true writer lived on. It’s firmly planted on my shoulder, in a tiny little critic who begins chirping any time I sit down to draft a new chapter or consider a new project. “This is not going to work. Do you think a real published author would write a book without knowing where the story is going?” And on it goes.

So, you can imagine my satisfaction, and delight, when I recently discovered, that yes — yes, they absolutely would.

Earlier this summer, I took part in an author talk featuring the New York Times best-selling author Lisa Jewell. The webinar, Explore the Unexpected Twists and Turns with Lisa Jewell, was hosted by the Library Speakers Consortium, in partnership with my local library. The Consortium livestreams events every month featuring best-selling authors. Each event includes an interactive Q&A session and is recorded.

Throughout the hour-long webinar, Lisa shared a lot of valuable behind-the-scenes insights about her work and writing process, but two things really stood out and had me feeling freed of my own writerly expectations.

No research

During the event, Lisa explained she doesn’t choose subjects for her books where research is needed. Fans of the 23 psychological thrillers she’s written will know many of her books tend to focus on domestic drama. This is intentional:

I’m a very domestic person. I live in a tiny bubble, and I like to only kind of know about things that are close to me. My home, my children, my animals, my friends, my plans, my life. Obviously, I co-exist in the world with all the big things that are happening, but when it comes to my main focus… I want to understand about the small things happening to small people, small lives that are blown apart by tiny events that nobody could have foreseen happening.

Did you hear that little critic?!

I don’t like researching, so the idea of writing about like… financial markets, or police procedure, or espionage… I don’t know how those things work, and I don’t really have any interest in learning about how those things work. So, I like to stick to the territory that I’m familiar with and fascinated by.

While she has respect for authors that ground their writing in research, it is not part of her process.

… There are so many authors who are just so different to me, and they consider that to be part of their job. They can’t start writing a novel until they’ve spent weeks, months making phone calls, doing site visits, reading books… whereas me, literally, ‘okay, I’ve got to start writing my book today’ and I just start typing…

No outline

And guess what? She skips the outlining stage too!

While she has a very clear image of the first chapter, Lisa says she typically has no plan of where the story will go, from chapter to chapter:

I can’t write a book, or can’t plot a book, or think about a book, or do anything about a book anywhere apart from inside my head or inside the manuscript… Post-it Notes, white boards – those things don’t work for me. I wouldn’t know what to do with them.

🤯

No problems

With every passing minute of the webinar, I could feel the little critic on my shoulder getting quieter. Am I a functioning adult who fully understands there is more than one way to approach most things in life? Absolutely. But was it still incredibly validating to hear a beloved writer say that a no-research, no-outline process can not only work but also lead to real success? Heck, yes! It was a much-needed reminder that writing is an art, not a science—and that I need to trust my instincts more and care less about how others may perceive my process.

If you’re curious to hear more of Lisa’s insights—including her thoughts on leap-frogging genres and why she believes the epilogue is the most important part of a novel—you can catch her full webinar through Library Speakers. You can also check out upcoming events.