The ART of Suspense

1. The ART of Suspense

2. What is Suspense? • Basic Definition – SUSPENSE: a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen. Suspense is based on anticipation. Without any reason to feel that there is something amiss, there is no reason to feel suspenseful. Often referred to as Suspense/Thriller or just a Thriller

3. SUSPENSE IS NOT HORROR Horror and Thriller DO overlap. Let’s start with the obvious: Horror can be thrilling, and a Thriller can be horrifying. This is never more obvious to writers than in the Supernatural Thriller and Supernatural Horror subgenres, but this does NOT mean the two are the same.

4. Fight versus Flight The reason Horror & Thriller overlap is because they share the dramatic context of “flight versus fight”. In other words, in the first half or even two thirds, characters are confronted by an issue of some kind and usually flee, attempt to flee (often literally), or falsely believe the issue to be resolved; they are then forced to engage with that issue in the second half or last third.

5. Two sides of the same coin This is where knowing your audience and what they want REALLY comes into play. Audiences sign up for DIFFERENT THINGS with the two genres: Horror, they want the scares. They are principally voyeurs, seeing how the situation basically screws people up/gets them killed. Frequently there “just is” a monster, a killer or a haunting and we’re essentially watching the characters’ response to this. In contrast, Suspense/Thrillers are frequently about MYSTERY and solving some kind of problem, often as part of a “race against the clock”. In short: Horror = scares Suspense/Thriller = chase audiences are principally interested in the scares in Horror

6. Ten Important Points on the Suspense/Thriller You need to have a good story. Thrillers want to be thrilled. A common element in thrillers is that the protagonist will fall victim to someone else’s scheme and get stuck in a moment of dread. There are only three themes in all of literature: death and rebirth, the hero slaying a dragon to restore the world to normalcy, and the quest to make life better. Know which theme fits your story.   Write about the underdog. Tell your thriller from the point of view of the person with the most to lose. The protagonist gives the story character. Give him baggage and emotional complexity. Multiple points of view can give you great range in a thriller. They allow you inside the heads of many characters, which can build more dramatic tension and irony.

7. Ten points (continued) Open your book with an action scene. Don’t put biographical information or exposition in Chapter 1 (do that later). Introduce the crime—which tells you the stakes—and introduce the hero and villain, and even some obstacles the protagonist may face. Don’t sacrifice style—use metaphors and good language—but stick with action. Early on, make clear what your protagonist wants and what he fears. You should know what the protagonist wants and how he would end the novel if he were writing it. There are two quests: Stopping the bad stuff form happening (In The Silence of the Lambs, it’s to stop Buffalo Bill from killing) and dealing with the character’s baggage (for Clarice to be a good, professional FBI agent in a [then] male-dominated profession). Think Cinderella: Her main quest is to get to the ball. It’s about liberation. When she gets to the ball she finds freedom.

8. More Points Make your characters miserable. Ask what the worst thing is that could happen to your protagonist and make it worse. Give them grief, false hope, heartaches, anxiety and near-death experiences. We don’t want our protagonist to win until the end. Your main characters have to change. It has to be an emotional change that shows growth and victory over some of his baggage. In The Silence of the Lambs, Clarice is stronger and tougher at the end and she gets a good night’s sleep. Pacing must be high: Strong Narrative Thrust. Each scene should reveal something new, no matter how slight it is. Don’t tell us about stuff that has nothing to do with the story. The villain has a ticking clock, so there’s no time to waste on pages with useless information. Short paragraphs and white space are good. Consider using cliffhangers at the end of every chapter, albeit a sudden surprise or provocative announcement.

9. Lastly Show—don’t tell. Avoid the passive voice. Use action verbs (He heard the screams in his bedroom). Avoid too many adverbs—they are cheesy and cheap ways of telling instead of showing. Also, don’t start sentences with –ing words (“He stared” vs. “Staring at the …”). Make the subject and verb close and up front in the sentence. Teach us something. Make sure your audience has learned about something—an animal, medical treatment, social issue—so we walk away with more knowledge.

10. And Most importantly - dread drivesthrillers Any of the aforementioned rulesare bendable, breakable and can be tossed aside – IF IT FITS THE NEEDS OF THE STORY!

11. End of Presentation Now for open discussion and Q and A