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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The Big Event: Make it Believable
For some reason this didn’t post last week – sorry for keeping you all in suspense! Last week, e talked about the Big Event in writing a suspense, and how you must have this hovering over the story as you draw closer to the climax. The reader must believe that something terrible will happen if the hero/heroine don’t save the day, otherwise, there is nothing “suspenseful” to worry about. Think of it like a football game – if the team won’t lose, there is nothing at stake. There has to be a believable threat of a disaster, or a loss. Let’s take a closer look at the Big Event. Whether the event that is/will happen is caused by an elements or a villain – needs to have four components. […]
Read the RestThe Big Event (the key to writing a suspense pt 1)
I only had one job: get literary agent Sandra Bishop to the airport. We had spent the weekend teaching together at a private writing seminar in the middle of Minnesota, and woke up early Sunday morning with a three plus hour drive in front of us for her flight out of Duluth. I had mapquested the trip, so I knew that the journey would take us three hours, but I added an hour cushion just to be safe and declared we’d leave at 10am. We pulled out around 10:30, but since I’d allotted the time, I figured..we’re all good here. The little town we taught in had a convenience store for a coffee shop, so we hustle by for a pitiful version of coffee and then hustled […]
Read the RestPeripheral Plotting – a trick to widening your suspense plot
You need to employ some Peripheral Plotting! Peripheral Plotting is the technique of pulling in ancillary elements and using them to create more tension in your plot. Ideally, they will make your character have to tap into a more noble instinct and push them along their journey. How does Peripheral Plotting work? I’m going to veer away from Cellular and Eagle Eye for a moment – only because they are such straightforward plots, and look at Live Free or Die Hard the latest in the Bruce Willis saves the world saga. Live Free or Die Hard is a perfect example of peripheral plotting. Basically, through the Internet, the bad guys are trying to take over all the transportation, finances and utilities in the United States, and if they succeed, the […]
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