Ramp Up the Suspense

Her nightlight reflected the edge of a serrated knife. The intruder twisted it in circles with his fingers while the pungent odor of gasoline assaulted her nose. Muddy boots edged forward and stopped mere inches from her face. Her breath hitched. Would he find her under the bed?

Creative suspense writing is intriguing and fun. It’s the hold-your-breath type of drama that makes you draw your feet up in the comfort of your home. The edge-of-your-seat tension captures the reader’s attention.

Begin by breathing life into your characters and making their personalities, feelings, and reactions to conflict realistic. Ponder the worst possible thing that could happen to them, then take it a step further and make it even more horrific.

Think about life situations where an escalating sense of shock, fear, trepidation, and horror become increasingly overwhelming. For instance, consider riding on a roller coaster. Expectation of a thriller ride builds with each click of the chain pulling up, up, up. The car teeters at the top for mere seconds. There’s no turning back. Anticipation of that pivotal moment when you’ll suddenly drop and screams of elation fill the air. Wait for it . . . wait for it.

Swoosh!

In an instant, you plummet. Your body lifts from the seat and the restraint belt rips, holding on by a thread—exhilaration shifts to fear. Horror swallows the fun as your hands grip the sides so you don’t fall to your death. What happened? Was it overuse, an accident—or had someone tampered with the ride?

Keep the suspenseful momentum going by raising the stakes. Put your characters in dangerous situations where their lives hang in the balance.

Death isn’t always physical. For example, professional death relates to something that could make or break your character in his line of work. Instead of a promotion, he gets fired. Psychological death might deal with an internal struggle—something that kills the character on the inside, such as unrequited love.

Unresolved tension ramps up the drama and keeps the reader intrigued. It causes unrest between your characters, which increases their inner conflicts and opposition. Some of the best scenes come about when your hero makes a wrong decision. Whatever he does will cost him something.

But then that’s the nature of suspense.

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