As a writer, one of the hardest things you will find is real character of a story. This is the emotion of the story, the feel that the reader gets as they continue to turn the page, and what makes or breaks your book as a page turner or page tosser. Thrillers are just as difficult to write as romances are, just as comedy can be just as difficult as erotica.
No matter what your genre is, you need to make the reader feel it. Suspense writers have the yearning to make a stomach quiver and force the adrenaline glands to burn calories. Romance novelists need to make the heart throb, the eyes water, and at the end, make the reader saw, “Awe.” Erotica writers…well, you know exactly what should be felt.
How do you change your style? The answer is you don’t. Keep your style of writing, but keep it real. Your genre should reflect situations that are real to you. This includes all of the sci-fi fanatics. If you can see it and believe it, it is real to you.
For example, a good thriller is expecting the unexpected. You know who your antagonist is, but keep the reader guessing at who’s next on his or her list. After all, real life officers never know who might be next, so why should your reader? Keep the action up, and avoid repeating yourself. Even though your killer thriller may have an M.O., spice it up. The same boring “Oh he cut her down with a hacksaw” routine is exactly that… boring, and definitely a page tosser.
The same idea runs true for every fictional genre out there. Mysteries work better when every character is involved, no matter how minor they may seem. This includes paralegals, judges, company canines, the little girl across the street, and so on. Each player has a reason for being there, or you wouldn’t have thought them up in the first place.
Don’t be the next drop off at a local grab bag book sale. Become the tale that readers will remember for years to come, if not a repeat reader all the way around. Page tossers never make it past the third chapter, and many times, never will just to see if it picks up.