Character and Plot Work Together

When you read a suspense/thriller novel, which interests you most: plot or character? Today’s action-packed films, TV shows and novels pile action upon action without giving you a pause for a rest. In such stories, do you even have time to think about the characters? Or are you satisfied knowing some girl is in distress and some hunk is about to save her if he can only get past the bad guys? Is the fun in the act of killing the bad guys while taking a beating?

Or do you care that the girl in question is an innocent college freshman kidnapped from her dorm with her roommate? Maybe she has more debt than she can handle and works a part-time job at a coffee shop where she has a crush on the head barista. Do you care that she dresses in conservative attire and reminds people of a latter day Grace Kelly? In the scene where she was kidnapped, were you moved more by the sweet sound of her golden voice singing in the shower or the rough hands of the kidnapper reaching through the curtains to grab her and drag her kicking and screaming away?

Do you care that the hunk out to save this young lady is her father? Do you feel his anguish as he considers what the kidnapper is doing to his daughter and her roommate? Or do you focus on the particular form of eastern fighting technique he learned while serving as a Navy Seal? Are you looking forward to the girl being restored to her life or to the battle between ex-Seal Dad and a handful of drug-crazed kidnappers?

If you’re reading suspense/thriller novels, my guess is your interest is in the plot or action of the story. You want to see how the dad saves his daughter and read the battle scene where dad rescues the girl and kills the bad guys.

Reading suspense/thriller novels rewards you with exciting “what happens next” action. In the first read through, enjoy the action. If you take the time to read the story a second time, stay alert to the characters. Take time to learn who they are. You may discover a second or third story lurking behind the main action. You may find a romance between a sweet young lady and a starving artist barista. Or you may find a touching story about a father’s love for his family despite his years away from home serving his nation in the military. These secondary stories are well worth the reading and breathe life into the main action of the story. It’s one thing to witness the action of daddy saving daughter, but it’s another thing to feel the father’s pain or experience the daughter’s terror in a way that only a friend or family member can.

If someone kidnaps a stranger, that’s news. If someone kidnaps your friend, that’s personal. By focusing on the characters in a second read of a suspense/thriller novel, the story becomes personal.

To learn more about my suspense novel Fulfillment, click here for Amazon or click here for paperback.

Here’s another novel idea…
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