Hatrack River Writers Workshop: The Key Conditions for Reader Suspense

This is topic The Key Conditions for Reader Suspense in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by johnbrown (Member # 1467) on :

I've been posting a series on suspense on my site. It's my best attempt so far to break it down and synthesize what I think the principles are. If you're interested, I would love responses to see if it's helpful or if parts don't seem to match up with your experience and observations. Or to hear insights you've had that I've missed. Or just the concepts about suspense that seem to give you the biggest bang for the buck.

The Key Conditions for Reader Suspense Part 1: Problem

The Key Conditions for Reader Suspense Part 2: Character

The Key Conditions for Reader Suspense Part 3: Plot

[This message has been edited by johnbrown (edited October 31, 2010).]

Posted by Lionhunter (Member # 8766) on :

I've read them. You're pretty much right. For anybody who didn't check them out yet, i strongly recommend that they do.

Posted by johnbrown (Member # 1467) on :

cricket, cricket, cricket . . .

Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :

Not for me, I much prefer baseball.

I started the first one, but my eyes are burning right now (I suspect from burning the NaNo candle), so I'll have to read more later.

It's reminiscent of your and Larry Correia's (sp?) LTUE lecture. maybe an expansion of those ideas?

Posted by RoxyL (Member # 9096) on :

I'm sorry, I forgot to reply.

This series of posts was great! And what I loved even better, was that when you read the first chapter of his book he has posted you can see what he's talking about in action. In that first chapter there was what seemed like a very likeable family unaware that a mob (including their neighbors) were descending on them. So it really illustrated the tension that can be created when you have sympathy for the characters and the reader knows something is coming that the characters don't.

Very insightful!
Thanks!

Posted by Amanda1199 (Member # 9295) on :

I read the first post, The Problem, and will go back and read the rest (I'm, uh...supposed to be working right now...).

It's an interesting angle. Having written screenplays and been to several screenplay bootcamps (some of my own imagining), conflict is driven into you over, and over, and over. Character, desire, conflict, end point for every scene. I've always thought that is what drove the story forward.

But I've never thought of the reader experience, focusing always on character and conflict. Reading your first post was an epiphany for me that the story is the vehicle for providing the reader an emotional arch, and it's that arch we're aiming for.

It also gives me a bit of a lift to think that I can screw up 80% of the time and as long as that 20% is on the money, I can still be a successful story teller.

Thanks for posting. I'll come back to read more.

Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :

You've definitely given me something to think about, John. I'm glad I read the articles.

Posted by Osiris (Member # 9196) on :

It jives with much of what I read from Ben Bova's "How to write science fiction that sells" book, as well as other books I've read on writing. So that must be a good thing

Posted by johnbrown (Member # 1467) on :

Douse your eyes, Inarticulate! Douse your eyes!

It's a culmination of what I've been thinking and building for a few years now. After a workshop I put on in American Fork, UT this fall, I decided I needed to get it down. Glad it's helpful. Let me know if you think of ways to improve the model or have questions.

Posted by coralm (Member # 9274) on :

I read the first one. There's a lot of great information in there. I think you've done a great job capturing what exactly about a story makes the reader feel suspense. I wish I had time right now to read the rest. I'll come back and read the rest after NaNo is finished.

Interesting bit of coincidence: The story I am writing for NaNo actually is set in a world that has already experienced what the first two comments talk about. The sublimation of a culture (many of them actually) by their conqueror. I don't think domination is quite the right word either and I've been struggling to come up with a better one.

Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :

LoL, John. After that post I went out and bought a little bottle of Clear Eyes®.

(My eyes still burn, but now I look like a pansy...)

Anyway, I'll be pulling ahead today, and might have more time to get into the links. One thing I find interesting already is the emphasis on finding the key to suspense--the hypothesis being suspense is the hook that carries the reader through AND that which makes for a broader readership.

Posted by johnbrown (Member # 1467) on :

Part 4 is now up: http://johndbrown.com/2010/12/the-key-conditions-for-reader-suspense-part-4-structure/