Yesterday, I said I would use some Big Events from popular books and movies… I changed my mind. I think it might be easier to explain if I applied the Big Event to my own work. That way we can see if I did it correctly. So, just to summarize…the Big Event must be: Believable, Compelling, Immediate, Terrifying. I’m going to use examples from my current suspense series…The Missions Of Mercy Series … Point of No Return An American boy and a warlord’s engaged daughter have disappeared-together-in an Eastern European border country. Only one man can find them in time to prevent an international meltdown-Chet Stryker. But Chet is taken aback when he realizes the boy is the nephew of Mae Lund, Chet’s former […]
Read the RestArchive | April, 2011
The Big Event…make it terrifying!
The last few weeks we talked about the key to creating a suspense is the Big Event that awaits the characters – either a positive or negative event that looms at the end of the story, one they either know about or don’t, but that has the effect of raising the tension as they draw closer (or are kept from it). So far, the Big Event needs to be Believable, Compelling, Immediate…and now Terrifying. See, we need to believe that his horrible Big Event will be…horrible. This is different from believing it can happen. It’s answering the questions — so what? If it happens, how does it affect me? You make it terrifying by looking at two different perspectives – personal and public fears. Personal fears […]
Read the RestThe Big Event…make it immediate!
We need another bathroom in our home. Not that we don’t already have three, but we have an unfinished room in the basement, plumbed out for a bathroom. More importantly, our daughter is graduating from High School next month, and I have about 30,875 people arriving at our home for the festivities. I’m anticipating a high need. So…with that thought in mind, I dragged my husband to the tile store to contemplate options. His eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head from the excitement. Still, with a vision of the lineup in front of the boy’s scary bathroom, he helped me pick out tiles. See, it’s not about whether we need this, but how soon. Even more important than the need is the deadline that looms […]
Read the RestThe Big Event…make it personal!
The last two weeks we talked about the key to creating a suspense is the big EVENT that awaits the characters – either a positive or negative event that looms at the end of the story, one they either know about or don’t, but that has the effect of raising the tension as they draw closer (or are kept from it). Think about it – if we didn’t believe there would truly be an invasion of aliens, then we would have laughed our way through Independence Day. If we didn’t believe the Russians and the Americans could wage World War 3, then we would have never had the cold war (and the Hunt For Red October). If we didn’t believe that Buttercup might not marry Wesley, that Prince Humperdinck […]
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