Yesterday, on this blog, we talked about the difference between mysteries, suspense and thrillers. Inside each larger category, of course we have sub categories. Just inside suspense novels, we might find espionage/spy novels, conspiracy, medical, legal, political, military, techno, paranormal, women in jeopardy novels, psychological, survival suspense, one of my favorite – treasure hunters, and last but not at all least – romantic suspense. I’ve written a number of these sub genres – military, women in jep, survival, conspiracy, political, espionage, and of course romantic suspense – but although each has their quirks, they all have the same overall structure. Let’s start with a Definition: An everyday hero or heroine confronts a believable, compelling, immediate and terrifying threat, and using their unique abilities, learning more, confronting their […]
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Spend a year On the Edge with My Book Therapy!
It’s time to put a little Thriller into My Book Therapy. No, we’re not going to dance (yet!) but it’s time we catered to the NON-romance author/readers of this blog. Yes, we know you’re out there, and you’ve been ever so patient last year as we talked about Romance. Hopefully, however, you learned a few applicable romantic secrets anyway. This year, oh suspense writers, is for you. This year, on MBT we’re going to spend a year On the Edge, examining the craft of Suspense. As fair warning, we will veer into how to weave romance into yoru suspense for a week or two, should we have those out there who want to straddle the fence. Still, the focus this year will be on the framework, suspense […]
Read the RestTricks or Treats
So you’ve figured out your BIG EVENT, and made it believeable and compelling and immediate and threatening. But to really create a great suspense, you new a few TRICKS! Here’s the first one: Grab ‘em with a HOOK from the first line. The suspense Hook is essential for a great story. Your hook should, set the tone, start with your hero/heroine in action, hint at the stakes and raise a story question. However, there is one key that every suspense hook needs to have: Intrigue. Why? How? What? It needs to raise one of these questions right at the beginning. Here are some of my hooks: The past had picked the worst time to find her. (What?) from Flee the Night Out of all FSB Agent Yanna Andrevka’s bright ideas, masquerading […]
Read the RestThe Big Event
Okay, so you’ve introduced your hero and heroine, and the stakes of the story, even hinted at their fears at the outset of the book…now, how do you weave in the SUSPENSE. First, let’s take a look at the defition of a suspense: An everyday hero or heroine confronts a believable, compelling, immediate and terrifying threat, and using their unique abilities, learning more, confronting their own lies and eventually finding a new strength, they overcome and win the day. The key to that definition is the word: EVENT E – Event – The EVENT in a suspense is the bad thing that will happen if the hero/heroine don’t stop it. It’s what is at STAKE in the story that propels our h/hn to face their darkest fears, summon their courage […]
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