The Importance of Suspense in a Novel

What makes suspense work in a novel? There’s quite a lot to know about this, but here are some highlights.

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/

Proper Use of Abbreviations in Fiction and Nonfiction

In this day and age of texting, people are becoming adept at using abbreviations. However, this is not appropriate, for the most part, when writing fiction or nonfiction, unless your characters have dialogues that involve texting.

You have to spell out the words. For example, if you want your character to drive a vehicle or motorcycle fast, you might be tempted to write… Jake put the pedal to the metal. His bike lurched forward. Soon he was cruising at 95 MPH. But, that wouldn’t be correct. You need to say he was cruising at ninety-five, believing your readers know you mean at what speed; or write that the numbers on the speedometer hit ninety-five; or write that he was cruising at ninety-five miles per hour. [Notice that 95 became spelled out, as well. Numbers under 100 are to be spelled out, unless other numbers in the same paragraph are 100 or higher.] It’s the same for other words people tend to abbreviate, like pounds (lbs.), number (#), and so on.

Technical writing and nonfiction still have rules, but you can use common abbreviations. You must spell the words out the first time and show the abbreviation in parentheses next to it. Example: RAdio Detection And Ranging (Radar) or Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Once you do this, don’t go back and forth between use of the full term and the abbreviation—use the abbreviation, unless it is used at the start of a sentence.

What about Addresses?

When an address is part of text, spell it out: Avenue, Boulevard, Building, Circle, Court, Drive, Lane, Parkway, Place, Road, Square, Street, Terrace. Also spell out directions that are part of an address, like North, South, East, and West (e.g., South Parkway). You don’t spell directions out when the address includes NW, NE, SE, SW (e.g. Aerie Parkway NE).

What about States?

Anytime you write a state name by itself, it should be spelled out (New York, not NY). When you write a state name after a city, it’s still preferred to be spelled out (Rome, Georgia)—except for the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.). However, some cities are so well known that the state or country does not need to be mentioned: New York City (you need to add “City” to clarify between the city and the state—or if you mean a particular borough of the city (there are five), use the specific one: Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens); Atlanta; New Orleans; San Francisco; Paris; London; etc.

I wish you the best with your writing, process, and progress.

Joyce Shafer

Services for Writers:

I specialize in helping first-time writers become indie authors or get their manuscript agent-ready (though, I’m pleased to say clients continue to rely on my services each time they publish).

4 steps to get your fiction, nonfiction, or memoir self-published or agent-ready that I can help you with:

1) Get your manuscript right,

2) Get it formatted,

3) Get your free ISBN, free marketing package, and free book cover*, and

4) Get your book published and onto your retail page, Amazon, etc.

*Some publishing sites offer free book cover services, or maybe you know how to create one, or I have a reliable designer I can recommend.

http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/

When a Sentence Begins with an Abbreviated Word Using an Apostrophe

Sometimes your characters speak in slanguage. This means one or more of them may not say something like Because at the start of a sentence—that’s too formal for them. So, you want to write it right.

If you read British novels, you see that they capitalize the first letter that comes after the apostrophe. Example: “’Cause I said so! That’s why.”

However, the American tradition now prefers that “c” to be lower case:  “’cause I said so! That’s why.”

It’s important to make sure you aim the apostrophe in the correct direction, which is toward the missing letter or letters.

To get this right, type

“Be’cause…”

Then delete the B and e: “’cause…”

I wish you the best with your writing and process.

Joyce Shafer

SOME OF MY SERVICES FOR WRITERS:

~Need a nudge or guidance to get your book written? The Chapter-by-Chapter Get-Your-Book-Written Writer’s Incentive Coaching Program can help!

http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/incentive-program.html

~Find more helpful tips for new writers and writers who wish to self-publish in WRITE, GET PUBLISHED, AND PROMOTE (covers the basics for beginning writers—Also available on Nook) http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/jls1422

~What Kind of Editing Will You Need?

Eventually, every manuscript needs an editor’s eyes. Learn more about which services will assist you and your manuscript best at

http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/ 

~Are you a self-published author (or publishing-house author) who needs or wants your book reviewed and reviews published? Self-Published Authors Book Review Service

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Do You Need an Incentive to Write Your Book?

We’ve all been there… You’re excited about your decision to write a book and you start talking to people about it. And then—

The conversation you, as a writer (especially a first-time book writer), don’t want to have:

Interested Party: “What are you doing lately that’s interesting?”

You: “I’m writing a book.” [Now you briefly tell what it’s about.]

IP: “That’s awesome! How’s it going?”

You: “It’s going.”

IP: “When will it be available?”

You: “Umm…”

IP: “How much have you written so far?”

You: “Umm…” [Maybe your “Umm” is a result of having a challenge with motivation to work on your book. Maybe it’s a result of not feeling sure about how what you’ve written so far reads. Maybe it’s because so far all you’ve actually done is talk about it and the only thing you’ve typed is the working title.]

The conversation you, as a writer (especially a first-time book writer), can have instead:

Interested Party: “What are you doing lately that’s interesting?”

You: “I’m writing a book.” [Now you briefly tell what it’s about.]

IP: “That’s awesome! How’s it going?”

You: “Really well! I’m working with a writing coach. I write a chapter, or up to three chapters, a month and then e-mail it to my coach so she can critique how it’s going. She tells me what’s working and what isn’t and offers suggestions for improvements. She also gives me notes about technical and creative aspects so I’m not only writing but improving my skills as I go. Because of this feedback and because I invest in myself through the reasonable fee she charges to do this each time I send her a chapter, I stay motivated and I’m making progress that I used to only wish I was making.

Work with a writing coach! Details about The Chapter-by-Chapter Get-Your-Book-Written Writer’s Incentive Coaching at http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/writing-coach.html.

Tips on Italics or Quotation Marks for Titles

It can be confusing to know what to do with titles when you include them in a manuscript or article. Here’s a guide you can copy and keep on hand.

Titles of…

• Works of Art – Quotation Marks
• Television and Radio Episodes – Quotation Marks
• Television Shows and Movies – Italics
• Song Titles – Quotation Marks
• Short Stories – Quotation Marks
• Ships, Trains, Airplanes, Spacecraft (names of) – Italics
• Plays – Italics
• Poems (long) – Italics
• Poems (shorter) – Quotation Marks
• Magazines, Newspapers, Journals – Italics
• Newspaper or Magazine Articles – Quotation Marks
• Chapter Titles – Quotation Marks
• CDs – Italics
• Books – Italics

I wish you the best with your writing and process.

Joyce Shafer

Services for Writers

Find more helpful tips for new writers and writers who wish to self-publish in WRITE, GET PUBLISHED, AND PROMOTE (covers the basics for beginning writers—Also available on Nook) http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/jls1422

What Kind of Editing Will You Need?

Eventually, every manuscript needs an editor’s eyes. Learn more about which services will assist you and your manuscript best at

http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/

Are you a self-published author (or publishing-house author) who needs or wants your book reviewed and reviews published?

Self-Published Authors Book Review Service

http://Self-PublishedAuthorsBookReviews.weebly.com

Tips on Abbreviations in a Manuscript

It’s best to avoid abbreviations when you write, but sometimes you do need to use them. Here are some common instances to be aware of. Know that in nonfiction, there are technical terms that can be abbreviated, but the entire word or phrase must be spelled out in full the first time it’s used, with the letters in parentheses following. Example: This car accelerates to 70 miles per hour (MPH) in 6 seconds. Last year’s model of the same car accelerated to 55 MPH in 6 seconds.

First Words of Sentences

Sometimes a character’s dialogue line starts off with an abbreviated word that leaves off one or two first letters: Because might be ’cause instead. Example: “’cause I said so, that’s why.” Notice a few important things about this. The apostrophe represents the two missing letters, and it faces the direction of where the two letters are supposed to be. To get the apostrophe facing the right way, you can type ecause then insert the apostrophe (e’cause) and then delete the “e.” Also notice that the “c” of ’cause isn’t capitalized. This is because the apostrophe replaced the “Be”. 

Measurements, weights, or speed, and so forth: Spell it out.

Incorrect: I drove 40 MPH the entire way. Correct: I drove forty miles per hour the entire way. (See above for nonfiction use.)
Incorrect: He weighed 180 lbs. Correct: He weighed one hundred eighty pounds.
Incorrect: She finished 1^st in the race. Correct: She finished first in the race.

Addresses

Spell them out: Avenue, Boulevard, Court, Drive, Street, Lane, Parkway, Place, Square, etc. Also spell out North, South, East, and West—except when the address is NW, NE, etc., after the street name: Park Street NW.

State Names

Always spell out the state name when using it by itself. Incorrect: He’s live in FL for ten years. Correct: He’s lived in Florida for ten years.

Always spell out the state name when it follows the city, with two exceptions: Use D.C. rather than spell out District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) and leave out the state for cities that are well known enough to not require the state be included: Los Angeles, New Orleans, Atlanta, Las Vegas. Make sure the city you mean to use is quite clear (Athens, Greece vs. Athens, Georgia). And the first time you mean New York City, write it out that way so readers don’t confuse it with the state of New York. Or, you can be specific about which New York City borough you mean: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, or Staten Island.

Ampersand: Spell out the word “and” rather than use “&”—unless it’s part of a title, say, of a restaurant in your novel: Bob & Sam’s B-B-Q.

ID: It’s an abbreviation for one word—identification—so should never be written as I.D.

Sr., Jr., II, III, IV: Use a comma after the name when you refer to senior or junior, but not when you use Roman numerals (This is Samuel Jones, Sr., and walking toward us is Samuel Jones, Jr. The young fellow behind him is Samuel Jones III.)
There is a lot more to know about abbreviations in creative and formal writing, of course, but these are several common occurrences writers are sometimes unfamiliar with or confused by.

Find more helpful tips in WRITE, GET PUBLISHED, AND PROMOTE (covers the basics for beginning writers—Also available on Nook) http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/jls1422

What Kind of Editing Will You Need?

Eventually, every manuscript needs an editor’s eyes. Learn more about which services will assist you and your manuscript best at

http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/

Are you a self-published author (or publishing-house author) who needs or wants your book reviewed and reviews published?

Self-Published Authors Book Review Service

http://Self-PublishedAuthorsBookReviews.weebly.com

I wish you the best with your writing and process.

Joyce Shafer

Services for Writers

Tips for Creating and Proofreading Your Manuscript Draft

Many writers impede their progress and stifle their creativity by not doing two particular “somethings” while writing their first draft and once their draft is completed—and waste time and energy by not doing them.

Author James Michener said, “I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.”

Writing the Draft

A writer can feel about a blank page of paper or computer screen the way an artist may feel about a blank canvas: stymied or hesitant to start. The way an artist gets going is to make a first stroke. Notice I didn’t say make “the” first stroke, but “a” first stroke. Write anything, even if it’s something like “I haven’t got a clue what to call this book, but I’ll figure it out eventually.” It’s more important to get your fingers typing or writing than to insist that what you write be perfect the first time (it likely won’t be).

It’s also best if you just write and keep on writing, without stopping to reread and edit what you’ve written, as tempting as that is. You can use up a lot of time and energy by writing, rereading, and editing the sentence or paragraph or chapter you just wrote (perhaps over and over). During the first creative writing course I took a few decades back, we had to read something we wrote aloud to the class. One participant read the first chapter of the book he was writing. It was brilliant, engaging, and well crafted. We enjoyed it so much that we begged him to read the second chapter to us at the next class. He admitted he had only the one chapter—and that he’d been working on it for two years. Two years! At that rate he’s probably still not finished.

Get your first draft written then focus on needed edits and revisions. Which leads me to…

The Best Way to Check Your First and Subsequent Drafts

• After you finish your first draft, print it out. You may want to double-space it first, if you believe you may need or prefer to have the extra space to make notes.
• Put the draft aside for one week. I’m serious. Mark a time on your calendar to work on your draft the following week and go do something else. If you happen to think of something to include or change, make a note on a piece of paper or a computer document, but DO NOT work on your draft.
• It’s now a week later and time to look at your draft. Find a place that’s comfortable, quiet, and where you can work as uninterrupted as possible or feasible.
• Get your draft copy and a pen or pencil and eraser.
• Read your draft aloud. I cannot emphasize enough how important and helpful doing this is. It makes a real difference. You need to hear how what you wrote sounds… because that’s how readers will hear it in the movie in their minds when they read your book. Reading your draft aloud—and not at a fast pace—not only lets you hear how what you’ve written sounds, but also brings typos, spacing, and other issues to your attention. You want to wear your editor hat, not your look-what-I-did!-author hat for this read-through.
• Makes notes on the pages and on the backs of the pages. Pay attention to indents, punctuation, content organization, and clarity, as well as creative aspects of what you’ve written. This may take more than one period of time to complete. Allow for this, but stay committed.
• Once you’ve done this process all the way through your manuscript, make the changes and revisions. This also may take more than one period of time to complete. Allow for this, but stay committed.
• Repeat this process for each revision until you feel it’s time to get either a reader you trust to read it and comment or get a developmental evaluation (critique) from someone who knows how to do this. Or you may feel it’s time to use the services of a developmental editor (or proofreader—if you’re genuinely confident about your technical skills) to polish it and or bring your attention to anything you may need to be aware of. Whichever one of these next steps you take, you’ll need to repeat the process for going through your revised draft.
• Once you feel your draft is a final one, after you’ve made your latest revisions and tweaks, let your proofreader or editor proofread it one more time. Too often I have self-published clients who skip this step, only to see “oopsies” that could have been taken care of before the book went into print.

A few other tips that will benefit you are…

Work on your manuscript every day (or at least 5-6 days a week), even if one hour is all you have that day. If all you have is five minutes a day, use it. You can find a number of authors who’ve shared that this daily incremental writing pattern is how they got their books written. An hour (or five minutes) a day gets it written faster than zero minutes of writing a day.

Take needed breaks! Writing, proofreading, and revising use brain energy. If you feel your energy flagging, pause for a refresher break or start again the next day.

Find more helpful tips in WRITE, GET PUBLISHED, AND PROMOTE (covers the basics for beginning writers—Also available on Nook) http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/jls1422

What Kind of Editing Will You Need?

Eventually, every manuscript needs an editor’s eyes. Learn more about which services will assist you and your manuscript best at

http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/

Are you a self-published author (or publishing-house author) who needs or wants your book reviewed and reviews published?

Self-Published Authors Book Review Service

http://Self-PublishedAuthorsBookReviews.weebly.com

I wish you the best with your writing and process.

Joyce Shafer

Services for Writers

Some Tricky Words for Writers

Let’s face it: Some words and their uses confuse us. We believe we know how to use them correctly, but that’s not always the case. Here are some commonly-used words that can be tricky for writers. (Also see the Blog post below, “Words Often Misused,” for other words that confuse writers.) Never hesitate to turn to a dictionary to confirm that the word you wish to use is the right one and is spelled correctly.

Acknowledgment/Acknowledgement: Each is spelled correctly, but the first version is for the U.S., while the second is for British use.

Acute/Chronic: Acute is used for a brief illness (disease) that reaches severity or crisis quickly. Chronic is used for a long-lasting illness or health condition.

Adrenalin/adrenaline: Adrenalin is capitalized and without the ending “e” and is used for the pharma version of adrenaline (not capitalized and with the “e” at the end), which is produced naturally by the body’s adrenal glands.

Aggravate/Irritate: Aggravate is used to indicate making something worse (If you don’t stop scratching, you’ll aggravate that rash); irritate is used to indicate annoyance (The noise you’re making is irritating me).

Alright/All right: All right is the correct version to use; alright is considered substandard English.

Alter/Altar: Alter means to modify or change; altar is a structure used in ceremonies, usually religious or spiritual in nature.

Amid/Amidst: Amid is used in the U.S.; amidst is British.

Among/Amongst: Among is used in the U.S.; amongst is British.

Among/Between: In the U.S., among is used when referring to more than two people or items (Divide these leaflets among the five of you); between is used when referring to two people or items (Settle this disagreement between you). British writing uses between, even when referring to more than two.

Amount/Number: Use amount when you can’t count something (No amount of kindess will please her). Use number when you can count whatever you refer to (The number of beers he’s had so far is six).

Anxious/Eager: Anxious is used to refer to anxiety, unease (I’m anxious about flying in bad weather); eager is used to refer to anticipation or expectancy (I’m eager for Jane’s plane to arrive).

Around/Round: Use around when referring to, well, going around something, like a street corner or a table. Use round when referring to a shape, gathering cattle, or rounding a number up or down.

Beside/Besides: Use beside to refer to alongside (He sat beside her). Use besides to indicate in addition to (What are you cooking besides a roast?).

Can not/Cannot: The correct use is cannot.

Continuous/Continual: Use continuous to indicate something is uninterrupted, has no break. Use continual to indicate repetition or something that happens over and over.

Dark/Darkened: Use dark to indicate having little or no light. Use darkened to indicate making something darker.

Every day/Everyday: Use every day to indicate that you mean each day (I go there every day). Use everyday to indicate something that is commonplace (Use this jacket for your everyday wear).

Gray/Grey: The preferred spelling in the U.S. is gray. British use tends to be grey.

Jeep/jeep: Use Jeep to indicate a brand of vehicle or a non-military vehicle. Use jeep when referring to a military vehicle (but not as a brand).

Fewer/Less: Use fewer to indicate things that you can count (There are fewer people at the meeting than last month), and less to refer to quantity (There was less paper in the photocopier than she thought).

Nauseate/Nauseous: Use nauseous to refer to causing nausea, and nauseated to mean once nausea has started.

Okay/O.K./OK: Each is acceptable. Just choose one form and be consistent about its use.

Prone/Prostrate: Use prone to indicate someone lying on their back, and prostrate to indicate someone lying on their stomach.

Slight/Sleight: Use slight to refer to a matter of degree, and sleight to refer to dexterity or deftness.

Tack/Tact: Use tack to refer to the item you use to keep papers and such in place on a board or wall—or as a nautical reference, and tact to indicate sensitivity.

That/Who: Use that to refer to a material object, organization, or a moment in time. Use who to refer to a person (It was Sally who showed up first / It was the plumber who turned off the water).

Throw/Throe: Use throw to indicate tossing something, and throe to indicate struggle or turmoil.

Toward/Towards: Use toward for U.S. writing. Towards is used in British writing.

Unbeknown/Unbeknownst: Use unbeknown for U.S. writing. Unbeknownst is a British usage.

Inexplicable/Unexplainable: Unexplainable is being used more and more, but inexplicable is the preferred word.

Who/Whom: Use who when you refer to someone doing the action (Jeff is who will speak first), and whom to refer to the person on the other end of an action—the recipient (Whom do you wish to speak with?).

Who’s/Whose: Use who’s as a contraction for who is (Who’s coming with me to the store?). Use whose to refer to possessive case (Whose bag is this?).

What Kind of Editing Will You Need?

Eventually, every manuscript needs an editor’s eyes. Learn more about which services will assist you and your manuscript best at

http://editmybookandmore.weebly.com/

Are you a self-published author who needs your book reviewed and reviews published?

Self-Published Authors Book Review Service

http://Self-PublishedAuthorsBookReviews.weebly.com

I wish you the best with your writing and process.

Joyce Shafer

Services for Writers