Yesterday we talked about pacing, and tomorrow we’ll cover tension. Today, I want to discuss a related term: Suspense.
You may be asking yourself, why are we talking about pacing, suspense and tension as subsets of plot? Because while characterization plays an important role in managing these three elements of story, plot is the structure on which they hang. As we learned yesterday, problems with pacing arise from, and are solved by, examining your plot points. Suspense is no different.
While pace has to do with the speed at which the reader reaches the next plot point, suspense has to do with what the reader knows about the next plot point. To be “held in suspense” is to be waiting for the key information or event that reveals the plot. Suspense is the sound of the reader asking, “what will happen next?”
As with pace, suspense is a delicate balance. Reveal too much too early, and you’ll kill the suspense. Have you ever watched a movie trailer that gave away the entire plot, because it was more of a summary of the movie than a teaser? You come away feeling like you don’t need to watch the movie because you already know what’s going to happen. The same thing can happen in a story. Tell the reader everything upfront, and there is nothing to look forward to.
I think, perhaps because we’re afraid to reveal too much, myself and other novices make the opposite mistake: we reveal too little, and instead of creating suspense, we create confusion.
Confusion is death to reader engagement. It’s not just that confusion takes the reader out of the story until the reveal dispels that confusion. Not only will they not be in suspense leading up to the next plot point, once they get there, they will fail to appreciate the beauty of the plot point you’ve worked so hard to create.
By successfully managing suspense, you lead the reader to the plot event in such a way that the effect is one of emotional release (or an emotional ratchet up toward the next plot event). You can’t do this when the reader is confused. It’s like an orgasm. People don’t, as a general rule, spontaneously orgasm. There must be a build-up. In fiction, you create the build-up toward plotgasm via suspense.
The other consequence of poorly managed suspense can be reader apathy. The reader might understand what’s going on, but not care. Generally this happens because in a mistaken attempt to create suspense, the writer withholds key information about what is at stake in the story.
Many novice writers wait to reveal what is at stake until the end of the book. I think sometimes this happens in a first draft because the writer doesn’t discover themselves what is at stake until the end. It’s not until the final climax that we realize that the whole world was doomed. Or, if they reveal it early on, they don’t do a good job of convincing the reader of it. Readers have to be shown mini-examples of the devastation that will occur if the hero doesn’t win.
But if you look at any of your favorite books, you’ll notice that the stakes are revealed early and clearly. Usually, this revelation of the stakes coincides with the inciting incident. It doesn’t always have to be the ultimate stakes of the entire story, either. It can be as simple as danger to the hero and/or his home. In The Lord of the Rings it’s made clear that Frodo must leave the Shire or risk putting it and himself in danger there. There are hints of him and the Ring being part of a greater danger, but we don’t learn exactly what until he reaches Lothlorien. But the entire time, we are held in suspense because we don’t know if the Nazgul will kill him and his other innocent friends. Their lives are clearly at stake.
Unfortunately, it’s difficult for writers to tell if we’re creating effective suspense just by reading our own drafts, because we already know everything about the story. The way we engage with the story is different from the way a fresh reader engages. So, the best way to know if your suspense is effective is to enlist the help of readers. Ask specific questions about whether the reader is confused or lost at any point in the story. Have them read the first few chapters and then ask what they think is going to happen next. Ask if they understand what’s at stake for the characters and in the larger story. Ask if there are places where they lost interest or where the story lagged.
When you’re writing or revising, keep these things forefront in your mind:
1. Withholding too much information can cause confusion. Make sure to reveal the key information the reader needs to know to follow and understand the story.
2. Withholding what’s at stake, both immediately and ultimately, can cause reader apathy. Make sure the reader always knows why they should care.
Revealing too much too early can cause reader apathy as well, but in general, even if readers know what’s going to happen, they’ll read to “witness” it happening.
For example, say you have a scene where the hero and companions are sitting around a campfire. In one version, rabid wolves come out of the dark and attack them with no warning. In another version, they hear the wolves howling and moving closer in the dark before the attack. Which version holds more suspense? The second one, because the readers know that danger is coming closer. When the attack happens out of nowhere, not only is it confusing (the reader doesn’t know what is happening until the last second) there is no build-up.
Tomorrow: 101 TIWIK #22: The Tension Edit will be written by fellow author Monica Enderle Pierce, and it will reveal her method for putting tension on every single page of her books. Don’t miss it!
This post is part of a series of 101 Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Wrote My First Book. Start reading the series at the beginning.
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