How To Write A Spy Novel

Want to learn how to write a spy novel? We explain how to write a spy novel, create believable spies, and build tension with plots full of twists.

In this post, I have included the definition of a spy novel and the plotting devices and structures needed to complete one. These include types of characters, literary devices, settings, the plotting method, and examples of spies for inspiration. I have also included examples of classic spy novels at the end of the post— as well as the sub-genres of spy novels. I hope this helps you write one.

What Is A Spy Novel?

In what genre do they fall? Spy novels belong in the thriller genre, but they have carved out a space of their own as a sub-genre in it. They are action-packed with secrets, danger, and people who aren’t always who they claim to be. They are not mysteries; they are definitely suspense stories. These stories have protagonists who are secret agents, analysts, journalists, detectives, hackers, assassins, or everyday people who stumble into risky missions. There is usually a ticking clock. Someone has to uncover a plot, stop an attack, or prevent a disaster before time runs out.

The Prize

At the heart of any classic spy story, there’s something everyone’s after: the prize. Graeme Shimmin breaks it down simply—you need a protagonist who drives the action, an antagonist ready to block them, a mentor to guide them, and, most importantly, the prize itself. That’s the thing the main character wants to win, find, or defeat.

How To Write A Spy Novel: The Ingredients Of A Classic Spy Novel

1. Create A Mission

Start with this basic question: Who needs to get the prize, and why?

1. Who? The protagonist—your spy—should be interesting and complex.
2. The Prize? This could be military secrets, government codes, lists of agents, passwords, political power, blackmail material, or hidden identities.
3. Why? They may have to stop a terrorist attack, expose a traitor, steal classified documents, track a threat, or uncover a betrayal.

The clearer the goal, the more driven your main character becomes. This becomes your story goal for plotting purposes.

2. Create An Inciting Incident

Something happens and the story begins. Maybe an agent finds a double agent in their group. A government official leaks secrets to a foreign power. A journalist uncovers a spy ring. Someone intercepts a coded warning about an imminent attack. The protagonist gets drawn in, and has to react to save the day.

3. Bring On The Protagonist

As John Gardner said: ‘In nearly all good fiction, the basic — all but inescapable — plot form is this: A central character wants something, goes after it despite opposition (perhaps including his own doubts), and so arrives at a win, lose, or draw.’

Choose a spy who suits the mission. This spy is are called on to act. They are usually drawn to danger. They are intelligent, observant, resourceful, secretive, and quick-thinking. Some have always worked in espionage, others just get caught up accidentally. These heroes live double lives. They use aliases, pretend allegiance, and are always vulnerable to betrayal. And they’re flawed. Their loneliness, guilt, fear, divided loyalties, and compromised trust shape their actions. Fill in a character bible for the main character. You need to know them well.

Examples of spy protagonist include:

John le Carré said: ‘A spy, like a writer, lives outside the mainstream population.’

1. George Smiley (created by John le Carré): MI6 Spymaster—brilliant, unassuming; nothing flashy, just brainpower.
2. Charlotte Grey (created by Sebastian Faulks): British Special Operations Executive (SOE)—resistance work and intelligence missions in occupied France in World War II.
3. James Bond (created by Ian Fleming): MI6 agent—the poster boy for super-spies with high–tech gadgets, glamorous settings, and danger everywhere.
4. Jackson Lamb (created by Mick Herron): British intelligence officer—messy, rude, brilliant; runs a squad of MI5’s rejects.
5. Maggie Hope (created by Susan Elia MacNeal): British-American codebreaker and agent—missions against Nazi Germany.
6. Jason Bourne (created by Robert Ludlum): CIA black-ops amnesiac assassin—outsmarting his own agency.
7. Carrie Mathison (Homeland): CIA officer—obsessed and brilliant, but fighting bipolar disorder and the moral dilemmas of her work.
8. Jack Ryan (created by Tom Clancy): CIA analyst—brainy analyst using his intelligence and courage to stop threats.
9. Ashenden (created by W Somerset Maugham): British spy—uses intelligence, patience, and careful judgment. Based on the author’s real spying in World War I. 
10. Liz Carlyle (created by Stella Rimington): MI5 officer—handles counter-terrorism, internal threats, and intelligence investigations.

Mentors guide them:

The mentor in spy fiction is the character who guides, trains, advises, or supports the protagonist. They usually have more experience and help the spy understand the mission, survive danger, or make difficult choices.

Examples include:

1. M, Q (James Bond stories): M does the mission briefings and Q creates the gadgets.
2. Control (Smiley stories): Mysterious intelligence chief.
3. Alexander Conklin (Bourne stories): Veteran who trained Bourne.

And antagonists oppose them:

The best antagonists in spy fiction do more than prevent the hero from completing their story goal. They challenge the protagonist’s beliefs, loyalty, and sense of right and wrong.

Examples include:

1. Alec Trevelyan (Bond stories): Ex-ally turned enemy.
2. Karla (Smiley stories): Quiet, patient Soviet mastermind.
3. Noah Vosen (Bourne stories): Ruthless intelligence boss.

Avoid purely evil villains whenever possible. Give your antagonists a backstory and motives that make sense.

4. Use The Tools Of The Trade

A great spy story relies heavily on specific gadgets. Get used to surveillance, dead drops, polygraphs, coded messages, burner phones, disguises, and hacking. They often encounter femmes fatales or hommes fatals along the way. These aren’t just props, they’re the nuts and bolts of espionage. Do your homework on how real spies work.

John le Carré said: ‘Once you’ve lived the inside-out world of espionage, you never shed it. It’s a mentality, a double standard of existence.’

5. Choose Settings That Build Suspense

Spy fiction thrives in places filled with moody tension. These include airports, embassies, safe houses, border crossings, luxury hotels, intelligence agency offices, and war zones.

Use big cities when you write spy novels. Each have their own flavour, adding layers of paranoia, power, and history. It’s a good idea to choose places that seem flawless on the outside, but they all have a seedy, dangerous side.

1. London works well exceptionally well because it juxtaposes elegant, genteel respectability with a gritty underbelly.
2. Berlin works well because of its unique geopolitical Cold War history, physical division, and atmospheric geography.
3. Hong Kong works well because it is a hyper-connected crossroads where immense wealth, competing empires, and fluid identities collide.
4. Moscow works well because of its rich history of espionage, imposing architecture, and the lingering, atmospheric tension rooted in its Cold War legacy.
5. Washington, D.C. works well because it is the ultimate intersection of global power and clandestine danger.
6. Paris works well because the ‘City of Light’ feels romantic on the surface, but it can hide secret meetings, betrayals, and undercover deals.
7. Istanbul works well because of its unique geographical position bridging Europe and Asia, and its history as a neutral crossroads during global conflicts

These settings create constant uncertainty, hidden danger, opportunities for secrets and deception, and high pressure situations where mistakes are costly.

6. Control The Pacing

You don’t simply want wall-to-wall action. Mix up quiet moments, sudden betrayals, revelations, chases, and big showdowns (with twists). Build up suspicion and uncertainty. Then take the reader back into the thrilling chase scenes.

7. Use Literary Devices

Layer your novel with them. There is no better genre than this one to have fun with these devices. Spy fiction uses literary devices to build suspense, hide secrets, and keep readers guessing. They help to make the story more nuanced, tense, and exciting.

(Please click on the devices to find out more about them.)

1. Chekhov’s Gun: The introduction of unobtrusive details that will matter later.
2. Cliffhangers: Including unanswered questions, a sense of foreboding, a physical threat, a ticking clock. They are the clickbait that get the reader to turn the page.
3. Dialogue: Make it matter. An ordinary conversation can become a warning, a coded message, or an interrogation.
4. Dramatic irony: Let the readers know something the protagonist doesn’t.
5. Foreshadowing: Present a series of events with hints about what will happen later in a story.
6. In medias res: Start in the middle of the action. Start with the inciting incident.
7. MacGuffin: This is something that seems to be the central focus of the plot at the start of the story. It drives the beginning of the mission.
8. Motifs: Use a recurring object, sound, phrase, action, or idea in a story. (You could use things like chess, masks, mirrors—great symbols for spying.)
9. Plot twists: Turn the tables with surprises that are shocking, but plausible. For example, an ally could turn out to be a traitor.
10. Red herrings: Mislead readers or characters with false clues, or encourage them to make false conclusions.
11. Suspense: Use this to delay answers and stretch the tension.
12. Unreliable narrator: Can you trust the storyteller?

8. Plotting: Use The Traditional 3-Act Structure For A Thriller

Take all the ingredients we’ve included above and write your novel in a 3-act structure.

The Set-Up: Act 1 act establishes the protagonist spy, their mundane world, and the introduction of a threat via the inciting incident. This sets up their story goal.

The Confrontation: Act 2 is the longest and most dynamic act where your spy faces obstacles, betrayals, and rising action. This part is filled with scenes and sequels to highlight the conflict with the antagonist and their henchmen. The spy gathers intelligence or goes undercover. A major twist is included here. For example, they are double-crossed. The story goal seems out of reach – they may be captured.

The Resolution: Act 3 is the culmination of your spy’s physical and emotional journey. They find the final clue, face their fatal flaw, and face a showdown with the antagonist. The ticking clock finally stops. The spy either completes the mission (usually the case – but at a cost) or fails to complete the mission.

9. End With Moral Ambiguity

As Ian Fleming said: ‘Espionage is not a profession for gentlemen.’

Great spy stories ask tough questions, such as:

1.  Do the ends justify the means?
2.  What’s the cost of the greater good?
3.  Can you stay honourable in a corrupt system?
4.  Is national security worth personal freedom?
5.  Are the ‘good guys’ really any better than the ‘bad guys’?

There are no easy answers, and the best books leave you thinking about them long after the last page.

Classic Examples Of Spy Fiction

Read or watch these thrillers to get an idea of what people want when they read in the genre.

1. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming: A classic spy story where James Bond plays high-stakes poker while trying to stop a dangerous enemy agent.
2. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carré: A slow, clever spy thriller about finding a double agent inside British intelligence.
3. The Quiet American by Graham Greene: A prophetic look at American intervention in Vietnam through the eyes of a cynical British journalist.
4. The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum: A fast-paced thriller about a man with no memory who is being hunted while trying to discover who he is.
5. The 39 Steps by John Buchan: A pioneering thriller about an innocent man caught in a web of espionage
6. The Night Manager by John le Carré: A former British soldier is recruited by British intelligence to infiltrate the inner circle of a ruthless international arms dealer.
7. The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy: A groundbreaking technical spy thriller about a Soviet submarine captain defecting to the United States during the Cold War.
8. Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews: A gritty modern spy thriller about a Russian intelligence officer and a CIA agent caught in a dangerous game.
9. I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes: A gripping international thriller that follows a former intelligence agent racing to stop a devastating terrorist attack.
10. Slow Horses by Mick Herron: A darkly funny spy thriller about a team of failed MI5 agents who end up caught in dangerous cases.

The Last Word

Spy novels are addictive because they constantly keep the reader guessing. There are secrets, lies, and hidden motives on almost every page. You never know who to trust and you have to keep on reading just to find out what happens next. Why not try writing one yourself? Use this step-by-step guide to help you outline a story and you’ll be well on your way to penning your first spy novel.

Spy fiction also has all kinds of sub-genres:

1. Action spy thrillers: These are fast-paced stories filled with danger, high-stakes missions, and last-minute rescues.
2. Cold War espionage: Set against East vs. West tensions, there are double agents and spies everywhere.
3. Covert operations: These include undercover work by infiltrating dangerous organisations by pretending to be someone else.
4. Historical spy fiction: These take place during real events like World War II or the Cold War, and they blend facts and fiction.
5. Mystery spy fiction: These rely on figuring out who’s lying, who’s a traitor, or what’s really going on.
6. Political spy fiction: These are all about governments, diplomacy, and power manoeuvres.
7. Psychological spy fiction: These focus on fear, paranoia, trust issues, and the spy’s inner turmoil.
8. Techno-thrillers: These include hacking, AI, and surveillance. The battles happen in cyberspace as much as the real world.

Each sub-genre still uses the same core ideas of thrillers, like secrets, danger, and deception. Choose the one that best suits your story idea and storytelling style.

by Amanda Patterson

If you enjoyed this blogger’s writing, read:

1. How To Outline A Short Story – For Beginners
2. 6 Sub-Plots Every Writer Should Know
3. How To Write Great Dialogue In Fiction
4. What Is An Unreliable Narrator? 9 Types Every Writer Should Know
5. How Writers Use The 4 Main Characters As Literary Devices
6. Mastering Point Of View In Writing
7. 7 Essential Elements Every Writer Must Master
8. 12 Setting Secrets Every Storyteller Needs To Know
9. 17 Ways To Think Like A Writer Every Day
10. Why The Silence Of The Lambs Is A Masterclass For Thriller Writers

Top Tip: Sign up for our free daily writing links.