When I agreed to be a part of this blog, one of the first questions asked by my terrific cohorts was whether I should be referred to as a Mystery Writer or a Thriller Writer. You’d think it’d be an easy question to answer, but it’s much harder than it seems.
Like most people, when I sat down to write my first novel, THE MARK, I didn’t really think about it in terms of genre. I knew it was a crime novel, knew it was going to be fast-paced, character-driven, and that it would be thrilling but with a mystery hidden in the center. So what does that make me? In the end, I’m not really sure.
See, there are some people who are definitely ‘Thriller’ writers. They tend to write big, explosive, globe-trotting books in which the fate of the world rests in the hands of some sort of military-ninja-explosives lawyer/politician/FBI agent. Usually the main character has a kind of short, terse name like Brick Rogers, and Don’t Take No Crap From Anybody ™.
Mysteries, on the other hand, tend to be a little more introspective. They often feature protagonists who are a little more world weary. They usually knock back a few too many drinks, have an ex-wife (or three) and are kind of loners. The world is rarely at stake in the book, and the pacing is a little more deliberate, more atmospheric. Often the location of the book plays as much a part of the story as the characters do (for great examples of this, check out Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series, Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan series, Dennis Lehane’s Kenzie/Gennaro series, or Lawrence Block’s Matthew Scudder books). In mysteries, the case tends to work on the characters as much as the characters work on the case.
So there are often seen as two sides of the ‘Crime Fiction’ world. Most bookstores don’t have a ‘Thriller’ section, they have a ‘Mystery’ section (though I believe Borders has a Mystery/Thriller section). There has always been a bit of discord among thriller writer who got shelved in Mystery, despite their pleas that they wrote Thrillers, not Mysteries. And some people clearly do write thrillers, whereas some people easily fit the mystery mold.
Me? I’m not so sure. When asked, I tend to say I write thrillers. The pacing tends to outweigh the atmosphere in my books, but on the other hand I try to write characters that aren’t just cardboard cutouts. I love my characters. I feel for them. I don’t like to just throw them into a boiling pot–I’d rather put them in a cold one and heat it up.
My first two books I consider “Thrillers with elements of mystery.” There was always a mystery at the center, but the stakes tended to be higher. There was more action, more bullets. In my third novel, I slowed things down a bit. I wanted the book to simmer a little more, and I wanted the story to more intimate. There was less blood, less violence. But I consider it the most chilling book I’ve written, and readers seem to agree.
So what’s the difference between a mystery and a thriller? I don’t think there’s a clear cut definition, though the popular retread tends to be “Mysteries are about solving a crime, thrillers are about preventing it.” The generalization tends to be that in mysteries you’re hunting for the killer, in thrillers you’re trying to stop the terrorists. But my books didn’t tend to follow that method. There was always a crime that set the story in motion, but then there was a larger crime that needed to be stopped. I love the idea of escalation, and I love having my characters have problems that are far bigger than themselves. But I also love their relationships, their romances. I want their emotions to be real, and I want their scars to show from book to book. Thrillers tend to be a little more pre-Daniel Craig James Bond, charismatic and indestructible, able to leap tall buildings, use cool gadgets or jump from thirty stories and land on their feet. The heroes rarely bleed, and if they do, they’re certainly healed by the next installment. Mine don’t heal so easily, and their hearts are just as fragile as their skin.
So again I ask, what’s the difference? In the end, I’m not really sure. So am I a Mystery Writer, or am I a Thriller Writer? To be honest, I’d rather leave it up to readers. A lot of people have told me they enjoy my thrillers. Others tell me they recommend my mysteries to their friends. So far nobody’s told me they like my chick lit, but my career isn’t over yet. So in the end, if I may quote Eminem: I am whatever you say I am.
So what about you? For authors out there, do you think in terms of genre when you write? Or do you just write the book and let the chips fall where they may?
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This is certainly a great topic, Jason. There seems to be the raging debate as to whether something is considered mystery or thriller (or genre and literary for that matter). Someone once told me that mystery focuses more on the crime and thriller more on the characters and plot. Of course, with thrillers having a crime and mysteries having great character, that goes right out the window.
As far as what I write, eh. Let people call it what they want. As long as it gets into the hands of readers.
So let me be the first to tell you, I highly recommend your chick lit book, THE MARK ;-]
Great blog here by the way. Oh, are you going to be in Indy for B’Con this year?
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Hey R.J. – Good to see you here. I know some writers who ‘know’ they write mysteries, and some who ‘know’ they write thrillers. I do feel like they’re few and far between, and most crime writers simply write what they want to and let their publisher and readers figure it out.
Thanks for the support, and just to show you how much crossover there is, THE MARK was nominated for “Best First Mystery” by Romantic Times magazine.
I’ll certainly be in Indy, hope to see you there!
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I don’t box myself in with the trappings of genre. I write whatever story comes to me, in whatever form it comes in. I don’t worry about what genre it is until I try to sell it and need to figure out which market to pitch it to.
Margay
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Margay – I tend to agree with you. There’s a weird purgatory that publishers have called “tweeners,” which are books that are not quite mystery, not quite thriller, but have elements of both. I have a feeling most writers are inspired by other authors they’ve read, regardless of what genre that author writes in.
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Great post, Jason. I’ve been trying to decide if the manuscript I’m working on now is a mystery or a thriller. Maybe we need a new term. Thristery? Mystriller?
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Very interesting topic, Jason. My first novel was marketed as straight horror when Pocket Books published it in 2003 (winged gargoyle terrorizes small town, yep, horror!)but by the time they published my second my editor had started to classify my work as a thriller (modern day templar knights, revenants, sorcerers – go figure)
Overseas, where I have a much more successful career in Germany, I’ve always been marketed under their Crime & Thriller label.
-Joe
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Ohhh. How I understand this!
To some people I’m an erotica author, to others and erotic romance, or even romance. To me, I just write Hot stuff. *grin*
However, I called myself an erotic fiction author, because whether it’s romance or not, it’s erotic. Maybe we should title you Crime Fiction Author?
I think for us, the authors, we tend to see that some books can be classifies as one instead of the other, (or whatever genre) by what we’re trying to write, or what we see/feel when writing it. While to readers, sometimes those nuances are there, but they might not consciously notice them. It’s a subconscious thing. Maybe.
Ahhh who knows? I just wanna write good stories.
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Nathan Bransford did a great post on the differences between Mystery, Suspense and Thrillers: http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2008/10/difference-between-mysteries-suspense.html.
I just write the story and then I see if it falls into a genre box. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. I think we all have to remember that genres are a marketing tool and shouldn’t restrict us telling story we have to tell.
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My stories get written down and I rarely think of them as being in a genre… or readable yet for that matter.
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Write, and let the genre fall where it may.
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I don’t care if a book is classified as a mystery or a thriller as long as it is well written.