Guest Blog. How to write an Alfred Hitchcock Crime Thriller by Tony Lee Moral

Tony Lee Moral is the author of Playing Mrs Kingston, a novel inspired by Alfred Hitchcock.

Alfred Hitchcock had the greatest of all things, a story to tell. In finding ideas to adapt to film and television, he often turned to newspaper articles, short stories, plays and novels. Audiences knew that with a Hitchcock story they would have a good time, they may be frightened, or they may be amused, as Hitchcock had an individual personality as a storyteller.

As the author of three books on the Master of Suspense, including a ‘how to’ write a thriller, called Alfred Hitchcock’s Movie Making Masterclass, I was naturally inspired by his stories when constructing my crime novel, Playing Mrs. Kingston, particularly Strangers on a Train and The Wrong Man.

For Hitchcock, the themes behind his thrillers must blend two important elements. Firstly, they should hang on one central idea that the audience or reader must always be thinking about. A good story should state in the first ten minutes, or the opening chapters, the central theme and dilemma. When writing my crime novel, I paid particular attention to Catriona, the heroine’s predicament, from the start. They’d ask questions such what will happen when Miles’ family find out that she’s not really Mrs. Kingston? Will the Detective catch Catriona? Will Leiobesky expose her to the Kingston family? Will Mario go to jail? All of these arise from a single problem that Catriona is pretending to be someone she is not.

Secondly, the theme must have sufficient scope to introduce a number of other elements or sub themes in your story. For Hitchcock, such themes included romantic love (Vertigo) guilt and innocence (The Wrong Man), psychology (Marnie) and morality (Rope). In my novel, identity, performance and betrayal are important themes as Catriona’s story progresses.

Hitchcock also often outlined the difference between mystery and suspense. Whereas mystery is an intellectual process, like a ‘who dunnit’, suspense is an emotional process that involves the audience or reader. In all suspense you must give the reader information otherwise they will have nothing to be anxious about.

Characters in Hitchcock’s films often fall into three types; the wrongfully accused man was a subject Hitchcock repeatedly returned throughout his career from The 39 Steps to Frenzy, which is reflected in Catriona’s boyfriend Mario. The guilty woman, as portrayed by Catriona, mirrors the blonde heroines of Notorious, Vertigo and Marnie. And the serial killer or psychopath in the story has long fascinated Hitchcock ever since The Lodger through to Frenzy.

I also needed a MacGuffin, which Hitchcock described as the red herring or engine of the story, the object around which the plot revolves and motivates the actions of the characters. Often a MacGuffin is central to thrillers, spy stories, and adventures. Most of the characters in the story will base their actions on the MacGuffin, although the final result will usually be of greater significance than actually getting, controlling or destroying the MacGuffin. In my novel, the MacGuffin was the stolen Caravaggio painting that drove the actions of the characters, particularly in the second half of the novel when all seemed lost.

Most of all, Hitchcock relished a good yarn, he described his stories as a slice of cake, a rollercoaster ride or a trip to the funhouse. I made sure I had a lot of fun when writing Playing Mrs. Kingston.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Movie Making Masterclass is published by Michael Wiese Books

Playing Mrs. Kingston is published by Zharmae Publishing Press and is available from:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Playing-Mrs-Kingston-Tony-Moral/dp/1937365670/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432885894&sr=8-1&keywords=playing+mrs+kingston