Ringdom Writing Guide

Chapter 2 Thrillers on Ringdom

In the last episode, we have briefly introduced Fantasy fiction on Ringdom.  Today, let’s talk about Suspense & Thriller lol

How to design plots in your Suspense & Thriller stories?

Novels under Suspense & Thriller category are usually themed in thrilling adventures and constant challenges. Behind these incidents, huge mysteries are waiting to be disclosed.

The MC of such novels can be a student, a horror lover, a criminal, a mercenary, an explorer, etc. He may be trapped in a mysterious place because of some accident. That place can be full of dangerous traps, vicious criminals, fierce monsters, or even evil ghosts. The MC may have to crack a series of mysteries or find out the truth behind some supernatural incidents while trying to escape from dangers.

You can take The Cabin in the Woods as a reference to conceive horrible monsters in your novel. As a challenge participant, the MC has to work his way to survive in dangerous and hopeless situations. 

You can also learn from Saw to conceive cruel killing traps and gears. The MC can be the person hidden in shadow, creating challenges and controlling the whole situation. Other characters suffering danger are just his pawns.

As for more examples, The Hunger Games unfolds the story with a survival contest, and Cube sets escaping from a place as the MC's aim.

To bring a thrilling reading experience to the readers, you need to let your imagination fly. If the readers dare not go to the toilet alone in the middle of the night after reading your novel but can't help thinking back on the plots you design, Congratulations, you nail it!

Unlike a movie, a novel doesn't have to end after one difficult task or one incident. Usually, an amazing story will present colorful quests and incidents for readers. Readers can see the MC keep encountering challenges with his growth.

In Alice in Borderland, the MC goes through one after another life-threatening quest before getting close to the mastermind behind the scene. A similar setting is also shown in a recent global success, Squid Game. As readers, we keep wondering what trials the MC will go through next.

If an author combines the movies mentioned above, they may create a novel like that: the MC starts with the dangers described in The Hunger Games, then he has to escape from the killing gears of Saw. After that, he manages to escape from the special space of Cube, and in the end, he defeats the horrible monsters in The Cabin in the Woods. With conquering a trial after a trial, the hero keeps improving his power and abilities, discloses one after another conspiracy, and gets closer and closer to the truth of the dangerous world. 

A novel like this, which continuously blows readers' minds, can better catch their eyes and immerse them. Readers will keep expecting what thrilling plots might be unfolded next!

Here is one example under Suspense & Thriller genre on Ringdom:

Killing Game Quarter

The MC woke up in an isolated building with ten strangers. According to the killing rules announced by a mysterious broadcast, everyone there had to kill each other to get out of the building. Could the MC escape alive under the scary and thrilling rules? Would all the drama end after he got out of the building?

The novel goes straight to the killing game, instead of a redundant introductory. The necessary information is naturally introduced with plot development. The setting is in a mysterious room, where the people woke up one by one. Everyone’s feet were locked by chains and they looked like livestock waiting to be slaughtered. The tension gradually rose to grasp readers’ hearts.

As the story unfolds, the game participants would have their past disclosed one by one. The darkness of human nature was thus vividly and tartly pictured. Bodies of people cruelly murdered always pop up beyond readers’ preparation, which makes the readers on their nerves all the time.

Of course, there is still room to improve for this book. For instance, the plot pace of the work start can be faster, the process of exploring each room can be shortened, and the mysterious broadcasting can appear earlier. In addition, the MC can be highlighted more. Currently, too many characters are presented, making it hard for readers to follow the MC’s actions.

For freshers to this genre, here is a prompt to start:

When I woke up, I found myself lying in a strange bed. My limbs were all locked by chains.

The room seems like a hospital cell. A few nurses came in. They were pulling a trolley with a weird smile on their faces.

There are electric saws and drills on the trolley!

Suddenly, some blood words appeared on the wall.

Welcome to The Infinite Hell.

The First Quest: Survive in Lunatic Asylum

Quest Time: Seven Days

So that's what we have all about today! 

Ringdom is launching Escape--Suspense/Thriller Writing Contest now! If you are interested, feel free to pick one of the three themes to create your work! 

Btw, the writing guide for Theme 1: Battle Royale will be posted soon. You may follow our book to know more details about this theme.

Feel free to leave comments below. We are expecting to hear what you think!