How to create suspense
Every writer wants to keep their reader gripped right
through to the end of their story - that elusive thing called 'narrative-drive'
– but how do we achieve it? Theoretically it's simple enough – create a desire
in the reader for something, delay the satisfaction of that desire, then
deliver what the reader wants in an anticipated yet unexpected way – the desire-delay-deliver
pattern. Simple right?
Right. But knowing something and being able to do it are two
very different things. Suspense is one way of achieving powerful narrative drive - and here are some practical techniques for creating it.
Dramatic Irony
Dramatic irony is when the reader or audience know something
that the protagonist doesn't and if used well can be a very powerful means of
creating suspense. The key is that knowledge the reader has implies a dramatic or significant event that will happen to
the protagonist. It's a device that can be easily understood from films but is
applied in exactly the same way in fiction. For example, we see a man break
into a house and hide himself in the bedroom cupboard - then a young woman
enters the house. We immediately have a suspenseful situation. For as long as
the girl is unaware that the man is hiding in the bedroom suspense is
maintained. A classic filmic example is the shower scene in Psycho. Bear in mind
that as soon as the protagonist becomes as aware as the audience are, suspense
is lost because the audience now gets the pay-off – the delivery of the
anticipated event.
There is a subtlety here – although the event is anticipated
it cannot be predictable otherwise the reader will get bored waiting for what
it knows will happen. Suspense implies a dramatic pay-off but the outcome
should by no means be certain. What will happen when the woman discovers the man
in her bedroom? Is he a threat? Will she fight him off? Or perhaps there's a twist
– maybe he's her husband.
Cross-cutting
Cross-cutting is the device of jumping between two converging story-lines. This
is essentially another way of using dramatic irony but it can have a more
accelerative impact as cutting between the two storylines will have the
effect of rapid movement toward the anticipated dramatic event – a powerful
combination of suspense and pace. It is in effect though just another way of
exploiting dramatic irony.
Ticking Clock
This is a device whereby there is an inevitable event that
is time driven e.g. a bomb will go off in ten minutes, the plane will crash in
thirty seconds, the protagonist has a wound that will kill him if he doesn't
get it seen to. This can be employed with or without dramatic irony. Once again
the principle of narrative drive is the same – a dramatic event is promised,
that event is delayed and its consequences will be dramatic and uncertain.
In this case the protagonist being aware of the ticking
clock can actually increase narrative drive, as a protagonist striving for a
goal (e.g. to disarm the bomb, rectify the planes descent or get to the doctor)
has a propulsive effect all of its own, couple this with the suspense of the
ticking clock and you are pretty close to a story that's unputtdownable.
As I say, suspense is just one mechanism for exploiting the
desire-delay-deliver pattern that creates narrative drive, but there are many
other ways to use it. Romance for example – the reader wants two characters to
be together, the writer delays that coming together, then delivers it.
But that's another post.
Excellent post, James. Thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for your comment, Gene. Glad you found it useful.
ReplyDelete