When you are writing a story it is always extremely useful to look at the work of other people. You don’t have to belong to a creative writer’s workshop to see things that are written cleverly. Try having a look at a short story to begin with. Choose an author whose style of writing you like and see if you can find anything that you wouldn’t normally notice. If you do this a few times and it becomes a little bit easier then have a go at something longer.

I read a lot of thrillers by people like John.D.MacDonald and Dean Koontz. If I wanted to try writing in that genre I would look to them for inspiration.

Here are a few things that I have spotted in Koontz’s stories -

· Making the abnormal normal.

If something in your story sounds far-fetched then don’t try and hide the fact; play on it instead! By poking fun at your own storyline you can actually end up making it far more believable.

· Memorable characters.

When you have a bad guy in your story, make sure the reader will detest him! Likewise, when you write about a hero you need to ensure that readers will adore him. Give characters quirky little habits that will stick in people’s minds. You don’t want your reader to start a new chapter having forgotten all about your lead character.

· Entertaining narrative.

When your characters talk to each other make sure that it stays interesting! Use amusing conversations and nicknames; anything that will keep your readers hooked. Give them silly things to talk about sometimes and don’t make it all deadly serious.

· Exciting openings.

A chapter needs to be gripping from the start. That doesn’t mean that each part of your novel needs to begin with a gruesome murder, but it does have to start in an interesting way. Try writing about someone doing something perfectly normal but write about it in a way that makes readers unsure of what is happening to begin with.

Speaking of amazing stories that reminds me, it is my birthday coming up and in case you are curious as to what to buy me (that means you Hazel) I have been looking at that dvd set for Columbo, just in case you couldn’t think of anything..