How to use beats in crime fiction and thrillers

Find out how to balance the scenes in a crime novel or thriller by using different types of beats that help readers understand the fictional world they’re immersed in. There's a free sample scene analysis too!

​​What’s in this post?

• Emotion beats: for sensibility
• Action beats: for movement
• Inaction beats: for breathing space
• Description beats: for stability
• Dialogue beats: for expression
• Why mixing up beats makes scenes more interesting
• How to analyse a scene for beat balance
• Download a FREE sample analysis

​5 types of beats in the fiction writer’s and editor’s toolbox

Fiction writers, and the editors who support them, can use different types of beats to make a scene interesting: emotion, action, inaction, description and dialogue beats.

​All have their place. Here’s how each works to create a more fully rounded scene.
I’ve focused on examples from crime fiction and thrillers, but the advice below could equally be applied to other genres.

​Emotion beats

Emotion beats tell readers how the viewpoint character is feeling. They bring sensibility to a scene.

A viewpoint character is the character from whose perspective we experience the story. In first-person-limited and third-person-limited narratives, readers have access to what’s going on inside their heads – for example, their emotions, thoughts and decision-making processes.

Access to this internal space helps us empathize with them and make sense of their motivations. That doesn’t mean we have to like them, but we do understand them. And that brings them to life and makes them more interesting.

Example from published fiction
Adrian McKinty, The Chain, Orion, 2020 (Kindle version, Chapter 1)

​     The doors power lock and Kylie curses herself for missing a chance. She could have unclicked the seat belt, opened the door, rolled out. Blind panic is beginning to overwhelm her.

​Action beats

Action beats help readers imagine how a character is physically behaving and can give us insights into the environment and the person’s traits. They bring movement to a scene.
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Perhaps a viewpoint character stands up because the overly soft chair is making their sciatica play up; maybe an object’s being discussed, and they push it away in disgust; or perhaps they rub their bare feet across the rough pile of a rug in order to soothe themselves in an unformattable situation.
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These beats are particularly useful when an author wants to convey emotions being experienced by a non-viewpoint character whose internal head-space isn’t accessible in limited narrative styles. Perhaps wiping sweat off their forehead indicates they’re feeling nervous, or their fidgeting with a beer mat indicates boredom.

Example from published fiction
Harlan Coben, Win, ‎Arrow, 2021 (Kindle edition, Chapter 1)

     "You're a little slow, aren't you, Teddy?" I sigh. "No, I won't excuse you. There is no excuse for you. Are you with me now?"
     The scowl slowly returns to his face. "You got a problem?" 

​Inaction beats

Inaction beats are pauses, hesitations and moments of silence or stillness. Even when these are short, they help the reader understand pace. They bring breathing space to a scene.
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They’re powerful because they can show rather than tell more than one character’s contemplation, consideration, indecision, or shock. The prose might state the stillness or silence directly, or it can be nuanced and come in the form of a character’s taking stock of a situation or bracing themselves for a potential upset. 

Example from published fiction
Kate Hamer, The Girl in the Red Coat, ‎Faber & Faber, 2015 (Kindle edition, Chapter 6)

     When I wake up in the morning everything's wonderful. For a moment I can't understand why. Then I remember: Mum's said if the weather's good we can go to the storytelling festival and that's today.

​Description beats

Description beats give readers objective information about the character or environment. They bring stability to a scene.
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They help readers understand what characters are wearing, what they look like, what’s surrounding them, what they can hear, see, smell, touch or taste. That brings the scene alive.

Example from published fiction
Harlan Coben, Win, ‎Arrow, 2021 (Kindle edition, Chapter 1)

​     His name is Teddy Lyons. He is one of the too-many assistant coaches on the South State bench. He is six foot eight and beefy, a big slab of aw-shucks farm boy. Big T—that's what he likes to be called—is thirty-three years old, and this is his fourth college coaching job. From what I understand, he is a decent tactician but excels at recruiting talent. ​

​Dialogue beats

Dialogue beats tell readers what characters are saying and let readers hear those distinct voices in action. Vocal speech can be heard, and so dialogue beats bring expression to a scene.
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Like action beats, dialogue is an opportunity to bring depth to non-viewpoint characters in limited narrative styles. Their internal opinions and feelings – which we don’t have access to because we’re not in their heads – are revealed to us. 

Example from published fiction
Adrian McKinty, The Chain, Orion, 2020 (Kindle version, Chapter 1)

     “What should I tell her?” the man asks.
     “Don’t tell her anything. Tell her to shut the hell up,” the woman replies.
​     “You need to be quiet, Kylie,” the man says.

​Why mixing up beats makes scenes more interesting

Too much of anything is rarely a good thing, and the same applies to a novel’s beats. When a scene’s constructed primarily around a particular type of beat, there’s a risk the reader will become frustrated and lose interest.

Writers and their publishing teams can use the drafting and editing stages to analyse the prose and evaluate whether there’s sufficient balance. 

​How to analyse a scene for beat balance

Must all 5 beats be introduced? No, certainly not. There’s no formula to writing compelling fiction. Good line craft means making a judgement about what’s missing and what might be added. 

Approach 1
One way of approaching this is to think not in terms of the different types of beats but instead in terms of what they contribute, and whether there’s too much or too little. 

​And so writers and their editors can ask: Which of the following should the reader experience in this scene, and are they present? Here’s a summary of those elements:

• Sensibility (via emotion beats)
• Movement (via action beats)
• Breathing space (via inaction beats)
• Stability (via description beats)
• Expression (via dialogue beats)

Example: Is too much expression dampening the scene?
An over-reliance on dialogue – even if it’s extremely well written – leaves a reader with no nudges about the emotions characters are experiencing or the environment they’re operating in. It’s two or more talking heads on a page.

If there should be expression in the scene, but the characters are chattering too much, think how you might turn the volume down, or at least disrupt it.

Consider introducing a few action, description and emotion beats. Or even turn some of the information contained within the speech into narrative.

Example: Is too much stability flattening the scene?
An over-reliance on objective description – even if it gives the reader a rich sense of the environment – leaves readers with no way of accessing mood. It’s a menu of what’s where. 

Description should stabilise the scene, not crush it so that it’s as flat as a pancake.

​Help readers get under the skin of the characters and their environment by adding emotion or dialogue, or a little action that gives the scene some movement.

Example: Is too much sensibility overwhelming the scene?
An over-reliance on emotion can be draining and doesn’t give the reader the chance to take a breath. It’s like a counselling session.

If there should be emotion, but a character’s self-absorption is swamping a reader’s ability to make sense of the environment, introduce description and action beats to ground the reader a little more objectively.

Approach 2
​Another option is to colour-code the text in a scene according to what type of beats are in play.

​This can help authors and editors evaluate whether one type of beat is overbearing, and where they might add in additional types of beat to disrupt that dominance.

It's a powerful way of communicating the problem visually and quickly.

I've carried out a sample scene analysis using this method with a stunning excerpt from SA Cosby’s Razorblade Tears. Use the button below to get your free copy.

GET THE FREE BEATS BOOKLET

​​Summing up

Using different types of beats in a scene helps readers to understand where the character is, what’s around them, how they feel and what’s important to them. Over-reliance on one type can lead to boredom and frustration; mix things up to keep them interested and turning the page.

​​Other resources you might like

• Editing Fiction at Sentence Level: book
• Fiction editing line craft: books
• How to Line Edit for Suspense: multimedia course
• How to Write the Perfect Editorial Report: multimedia course
• Narrative Distance: multimedia course
• Resource library
• Switching to Fiction: multimedia course​

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
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• Get in touch: Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader​
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