Thriller 101

146 How to turn 'wasted' drafts and subverted tropes into your writing superpower with Charlene Wang


Listen Later

Send me a Text Message!

What if the tropes you love are actually holding your thriller back? 

In this episode, Charlene Wang reveals how she transformed the beloved campus novel into a feminist revenge thriller by strategically subverting genre expectations. 

And the results landed her a major book deal. 

You'll discover the counterintuitive truth about "wasted" drafts (spoiler: nothing is ever wasted), learn how to weaponize social media as a character psychology tool rather than just a plot device, and understand why the most compelling morally gray characters make us root for their goals while questioning their methods. 

If you're struggling to make your thriller feel fresh or your contemporary setting feel authentic, this conversation will fundamentally change how you approach revision and might just save you years of trial and error.

Learn more about Charlene

Bio: 
Charlene Wang was born in Beijing and, after immigrating to the US when she was three, has lived in seven different cities from Los Angeles to Rockville to Biloxi. Graduating with a B.A. in English from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from University of Virginia School of Law, she worked as a litigator for six years before quitting to pursue her childhood dream of becoming an author. She now lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her fiancé and their dog Winky.

Episodes I think you'll love...

  1. Agent Carleen Geisler Reads a Submission & Shares How Agents Evaluate Opening Pages
  2. Writing Your Opening Scene with Thomas Mullen
  3. Writing Unique Openings to Grab Literary Agent Attention: Jason Powell Author

Get the list of 125+ Literary Agents who rep Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, and Crime Fiction

Study the Opening Paragraphs of the Top Authors Writing Thrillers Right Now


...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Thriller 101By David

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

25 ratings


More shows like Thriller 101

View all
Writing Excuses by Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler

Writing Excuses

1,283 Listeners

Helping Writers Become Authors by K.M. Weiland

Helping Writers Become Authors

1,002 Listeners

The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers by Joanna Penn

The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers

627 Listeners

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience by Kelton Reid

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

215 Listeners

Meet the Thriller Author (Author Interviews) by Alan Petersen

Meet the Thriller Author (Author Interviews)

35 Listeners

Writer's Routine by Dan Simpson

Writer's Routine

312 Listeners

Sarah's Bookshelves Live by Sarah Dickinson | Sarah's Bookshelves

Sarah's Bookshelves Live

785 Listeners

Writers, Ink: Your backstage pass to the world's most prolific authors by J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle

Writers, Ink: Your backstage pass to the world's most prolific authors

53 Listeners

Fiction Writing Made Easy | Top Creative Writing Podcast for Fiction Writers & Writing Tips by Savannah Gilbo

Fiction Writing Made Easy | Top Creative Writing Podcast for Fiction Writers & Writing Tips

1,459 Listeners

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing by Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

777 Listeners

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel by James Thayer

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

361 Listeners

Writers on Writing by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and Marrie Stone

Writers on Writing

80 Listeners

The Whole Writer by Nicole Meier

The Whole Writer

45 Listeners

Flublishing by Flublishing

Flublishing

11 Listeners

PLOT TWIST by Soman Chainani and Victoria Aveyard

PLOT TWIST

47 Listeners