Every
story benefits from some level of suspense. Plot relies on it. For suspense to
work well, readers have to care about or be curious about what will happen to
one or more characters. This means that as important as plot and suspense are,
characters are equally so because plot and suspense reveal the characters for
who they really are and characters propel the plot forward, based on what they
say or don’t and the actions they take or don’t. Suspense, as with anything,
should never be used to fill space. It must be relevant to the story and relevant
for the characters, based on their role in the story.
Readers
may believe they know the characters you’ve created for them and will rely on
them to be true to themselves, if you’ve developed them well, but readers still
anticipate the feeling of suspense as they wonder what a character will say or
do in certain circumstances. Think of it
like baseball: as exciting as it is when the batter hits the ball, the real
suspense happens in the moments that immediately follow the sound of the crack, when leather meets wood.
Suspense
arises as a result of some form of conflict. Conflict in plot development works
best when it shows up then builds, whether just in a particular scene or
throughout the novel (though, every scene must contribute to the overall plot
and character development). This may involve some form of danger, but it can
also be an inner experience for a character as well.
Suspense
is about risk, whether it’s between one or more characters or within the
character. Suspense can be anything from a character in a darkened room
becoming aware there is something or someone breathing heavily on the other
side of the door, or how a character will perform in a personal challenge such
as facing a job interview panel or facing an angry lion that needs to be
re-captured, or the ten-year-old boy working up courage to confront a bully. It
can include any resistance a character feels—toward themselves, one or more
others, or life events. Resistance is often about characters facing their worst
enemy—themselves, in whatever circumstance they find themselves in.
Here’s the main purpose for
suspense: to keep readers reading the book and not wanting to put it down. But, suspense and conflict do
not have to come from one dastardly event occurring right after another, like
Dominoes falling. Suspense has all to do with the structure of the novel.
Relevant and even life-changing events, wrapped in their own form of suspense,
must happen as part of a logical sequence of events. You’ve done a good job with
suspense when readers care about what’s going to happen and don’t want to stop
turning pages, or if they must stop reading, they’re eager to return to the
book as soon as possible. You can use and build suspense in many ways; however,
you don’t want to overdo this or it will slow plot momentum. Worse, it will
become obvious to readers that you’re more interested in distracting them from
less than stellar plot and character development than making sure the story
engages them.
Other
forms of suspense include seeking something significant, big discoveries that
are made, time running out, physical attacks, as well as emotional or spiritual
attacks. Something as simple as an envelope with a significant message inside
received but unopened and forgotten about or an important fax that falls under a
nearby piece of furniture creates suspense. There’s something there a character
needs to know about—readers know about it—but the character is operating in the
dark. This creates a promise to readers: at some point, the character will
either discover or be impacted by this.
Suspense
must happen organically within plot development; and three of many ways to do
this involves the use of clues, false clues, and red herrings. “A clue is a
mistake by another name,” said the character James Hathaway in the PBS series Inspector Lewis). Clues provide
information to a character (and to readers). These can include tangible objects
such as fingerprints, or a button torn from a garment during a struggle and
later pried from the clenched hand of the victim, or a circled listing in a
newspaper. A false clue can be used on a character by another character (a
character lies to the private investigator), which is learned by the P.I. later
in the story. You can also use what’s called a red herring, which is an event
or statement that misleads characters (and readers); but this must be logical
and have relevance to the story. A red herring keeps readers from figuring out
what’s really going on sooner than you wish to reveal what is going on.
I wish
you the best with your writing, process, and progress.
Joyce
Shafer
“Editor, Joyce Shafer.
What can I say? Simply put, no Joyce, no book. Part editor, part coach, part
teacher, Joyce was absolutely phenomenal throughout the entire
editing process. Working with Joyce was like taking a graduate course in
writing with your all-time favorite teacher and you were the only student. I
just can't say enough good things. Allow me a shameless plug for her services
at http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/
~ Eric Berbig, Author of The People’s
Will
Work with
Joyce L. Shafer as your writing coach or developmental editor. Details about
her services, including Critiques and The Chapter-by-Chapter
Get-Your-Book-Written Writer’s Incentive Coaching at http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/
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