For me, the coolest part of writers’ conferences is the off-the-cuff words of wisdom you hear from the great crime writers of our time. I take notes—and at the recent ThrillerFest 2025 I gathered some great advice from some master storytellers. Here’s a quick round-up of my favorite writerly bon mots heard this year at this swell event.
On creating the protagonist’s arc:
“From zero to hero.”
—Lisa Scottoline
On character vs. plot:
“I started in romance, which is all about the WHO, not the what.”
—Lisa Gardner
“I always start with the plot…[and] the bad guys, then I figure out who the book is about.”
—John Grisham
“I start with character. I wanted to write about women who looked like me.”
—Jennifer Hillier
“Aristotle says character is plot and plot is character.”
—David Morrell
On how to begin:
“I start hearing a voice.”
—Lisa Unger
“I write series…I create a character and I can’t let go.”
—Lisa Gardner
“I know the last scene before I write the first scene. Like John Irving. Who says he writes the last line before he writes the first line.”
—John Grisham
On writing every day:
“I write one page every day, same place, same time, same recliner, same quilt, same coffee cup…until you write every day you’re not going to get anywhere.”
—John Grisham
“Writing is a perishable skill. You need to write every day.”
—David Morrell
“Set the schedule and honor the schedule.”
—Lisa Gardner
“Every creative knows that there is a gauntlet you need to run to get to that creative space.”
—Lisa Unger
“I write all my first drafts on my phone while I’m walking.”
—Alex Finlay
On tricks and tips:
“Don’t forget your walk-on characters, [use] telling detail, make them vivid.”
—David Morrell
“I know what the characters going to do later so I can build in the tension.”
—John Grisham
“You can’t kill off your main character but you can kill off other recurring characters in the books.”
—John Sandford
“Villains need ‘hellbent passions’.”
—David Morrell
“A good writer has a charm that draws the reader into the dream…Lee Child has such charm.”
—John Sandford
“[Remember that] The reader does half the work….”
—Walter Mosley
On knowing what your story is really about:
“Rambo is a book about being stuck in your view point.”
—David Morrell
“Fear. Always fear.”
—John Grisham
On the importance of dreams and daydreams:
“Pay attention to your daydreams…”
—John Grisham
“The writer creates the dream but the reader is the dreamer who dreams it.”
—John Sandford
On what to do when you get stuck:
“I kill someone.”
—Charlaine Harris
“If I write every day, things will be answered.”
—Walter Mosley
“I read it out loud.”
—John Grisham
On gratitude:
“Thank you to all the writers here. You are doing God’s work.”
—Neil Nyren
The Last Word:
“I’m not just cranking out books, I’m trying to save the fucking world.”
—David Baldacci
This post originally appeared on Career Authors