What Lies Beneath the Story - Plotting a Thriller

Whatever It Takes - a Tom Douglas thriller

All authors take different approaches to their writing, and I am not suggesting my way is the best or the only way to plot and write a thriller! However, people sometimes ask why it takes me close to a year to complete a book, and the truth is that the actual writing accounts for less than half of that time. It’s the preparation, the research, and the understanding of the characters that occupy my mind for months before I start constructing my story. Then comes the writing, and finally the editing – from structural and story editing to copy editing and proof reading. It’s a long (and thoroughly enjoyable) process.

If you’ve ever wondered how to plot a thriller, this post gives a glimpse of my personal approach, and it's not intended to be a step-by-step guide. I have tried hard to avoid spoilers for those who have not yet read Whatever It Takes, and although there may be a few hints about some of the book’s secrets, I hope there’s nothing here that will impact on the tension!

Part 1

Where it Begins: The spark: an image, a question, a feeling

Every book starts with something small – a question, a sentence, an observation of unusual behaviour, an item of news.

And So It Begins – the first book in my Stephanie King series – began with a visit to a women’s prison! It raised many questions in my mind about guilt vs innocence, and I was keen to explore that idea in a story.

Only the Innocent – the first Tom Douglas thriller – began with the question: What set of circumstances could be so bad that an average, sane woman would have no choice but to murder a man?

With Whatever It Takes, it was a simpler question: Tom’s been shot, but there’s been no word from his brother. Is Jack missing – or maybe it’s something worse?

Usually at this point I begin to define the characters to understand who the book is about. For me, the characters are the most important focus of the story. Plot is nothing without characters to care about (or hate!), so strong character development is vital in thriller writing. I need to understand them and their role within the story before I can begin planning. But Whatever It Takes was always going to be focused on Tom and Jack – characters I know well – so until their story began to unravel, I didn’t know for certain what new characters I would need to create.

All I had was a question: what the hell has happened to Jack? I had no plot, no plan – just the need to answer that question in a way that felt exciting, plausible, and in character. From there, I began to build.

What could have happened to Jack, and how was Tom going to track him down? He didn’t even know where his brother lived – a decision Jack, with his dubious past, had taken in an attempt to keep them all safe. Tom had to start somewhere, but where?

I needed a credible reason for Jack’s disappearance, and the beginnings of a trail for Tom to follow. Then the story began to move forward, piece by piece.

The first questions were crucial:

• How could Tom find out where Jack had been living?

• For Jack to have gone silent, what could have happened to him?

• Where were the rest of his family – were they okay?

I didn’t even know the answers to these questions myself! But I needed to have some idea before I began to plot the story.

I could have started writing, simply pursuing the hunt for Jack, hoping the rest of the story would gradually reveal itself. But without knowing where the story was going, it would have been hard to figure out the steps Tom would take and how he would feel at each stage of his journey. (Feelings are so important!)

I had to decide if Jack was dead. That would have sent Tom in one direction – hunting for his killer. Or was he alive but, for some reason, missing? That would open up a completely different range of possibilities.

Decision made (and not to be revealed here), I set about plotting Tom’s investigation into his brother’s whereabouts – dead or alive.

Tom had to start by trying to find out where Jack had been living. But where was that? There had been hints in earlier books about North Wales, and I needed to understand what Jack’s life was like there. What was his family home like?

I needed a picture! I scoured the web, bearing in mind the very specific idea I had in my head about everything – from the colour of the doors to the surrounding countryside. I found nothing, so I turned to AI to paint me a picture:

Lots of choices – none quite right to the image in my imagination, but close enough to give me a point of reference. I wanted the Snowdonia mountain range in the distance, and a forest that Tom had to navigate to find his brother’s home.

Whenever I choose either a new location or a new character, I have to have a picture. I must be able to describe what I see consistently so readers can (hopefully) visualise the same place or person the same thing – or at least something close.

The Five Act Structure – let the plotting begin

As soon as I made the decision about Jack – alive or dead – I had to work out how the situation had arisen. Other bits of the story began to reveal themselves to me, and at that point, I started to build them into a structure – rough at first, with more gaps than content, but it was a starting place.

I begin to shape the story using a loose five-act structure model which helps me plot the action logically. It’s not a rigid formula, but it helps me map the narrative arc.

• Exposition: This is where the story opens – the characters, their world, and the initial tension are all introduced. In Whatever It Takes, the mystery is immediate: Where the hell is Jack? What does Tom know? What steps will he take next?

• Rising Action: Tom begins to uncover the truth, realizing the stakes are far higher than they first appeared. Tension builds as new layers are revealed and new threats exposed.

• Climax: The turning point – a moment that forces action. Tom is forced to make a choice that can’t be undone, stepping over a line he never thought he would cross.

• Falling Action: The consequences unfold. The primary goal may have been achieved, but there’s no certainty about what comes next, and danger still lurks around every corner.

• Resolution: The dust settles. We see what’s been lost, what’s been gained, and what it has cost Tom to get there. Did he make the right decisions? Should he have done things differently? Where does this leave him now, and in the future?

Using this structure forces me to think logically. I map the outline in a programme called Plottr, creating a box for each of the five acts, then building on this to develop ideas for chapters. At first, there are more blank spaces than boxes, which is typical when planning a thriller, but the software lets me move things around – mind-mapping my thoughts, considering story and character options, shifting chapters into the right place. At this point, I know a lot will change, but this framework helps guide me.

Only showing part of the structure - no clues here!

In the case of Whatever It Takes it soon became very clear that I needed to introduce new characters – ones that revealed themselves to me as the structure of the story took shape. Tom could not exist in isolation, so I needed to understand who he was battling against. And that’s when things become really interesting.

As soon as I had a clear image of another protagonist, or antagonist (no clues!), I stopped all plotting because the most important part of the process – defining the characters – had to take over. In Whatever It Takes, that meant creating one of the most complex characters I’ve ever written.

That process started – as it always does – by exploring every aspect of her personality. This is the part of the development stage that I love the most – gaining a comprehensive understanding of the characters who are about to live in my mind for months.

I’ll talk about what that entails in Part Two of What Lies Beneath the Story. Coming soon!

Discover Whatever It Takes on Amaon