Skip to main content

Danger, Emotion, And Suspense

Good Morning All,

Our fellow blogger (and follower of this blog and literally a "fellow" or as us Southerners say, "fella"), Bane, wrote something about emotion on his post yesterday. (Incidentally enough, he gets a shout out for that post, it was entertaining and informative. I liked it!)

Todd Stone says put your hero/heroine in danger. This increases the suspense, emotion and overall encouraging your readers to care about your characters.

Of course, depending on your genre this can mean different things:

Mysteries it could be that your sleuthing hero/heroine finds themselves finding out someone closest to them is the bad guy. I remember one time when I was reading one of Laura Childs' Tea Shop Mystery book (the first one in the series, this was the first time I had read any of her work) I thought maybe Delaine Dish was the one who committed the crime, but she was innocent. (By the way, if you like "cozies" her books are awesome. She's also incredibly nice and gave me some very helpful information more than once).

For action it could be your hero/heroine being held at gun point:

John Girsham often has suspense mounting by having his hero/heroine being chased by the bad guys because that person has something the bad guys don't want revealed. (The Partner anyone? Or The Runaway Jury?)

I don't know a whole lot about horror except that I've heard you never want the characters to open a door and then they do it and on the other side of the door is the monster.

For Romance, it can be the sexual tension between the hero and the heroine, or it can be one of them fighting against a mounting attraction (like Delaney is doing in Conjure A Man)

How do you keep up the danger, emotion and/or suspense in your own writing?

For me, I keep having a sense of danger or conflict getting in the way of complete happiness for my characters. Things that keep them wondering if what they're doing is the right thing, until, finally they make the decision one way or another. Of course, being about happily-ever-after I can't forget to resolve that conflict.

Anyway, your turn to answer the question. :-)

Have A Wondrous Wednesday!

Comments

Joshua McCune said…
Thanks for the shout out, Bethany :)... This fella doesn't particularly up the danger... I just try to keep it constantly flowing; hopefully, I achieve some of this through pacing and another part of this through mystery (i.e., putting the reader in the protag's shoes -- a protag who doesn't know everything that's happening).

PS - there are monsters behind my door -- though they open the door themselves :).
Bethany said…
Bane,

You're welcome. Yeah, that's another way raising the suspense.

As to the monsters, I hope you're well protected LOL :-D
Marsha Sigman said…
I hope I have raised enough suspense in my wip but I intend to really work on that after I finish the first draft. I have to make sure it consistently flows. I think the trick is not to let all your cards show...keep a few surprises hidden. And this is also a question of pace, correct? Have to make sure the pace is where it needs to be.
Bethany said…
Marsha,

Exactly :-)

Popular posts from this blog

It's Worth A Fortune

Happy Tuesday Everyone, Does anyone remember the song If I Had A Million Dollars by Barenaked Ladies ? I can't remember when or how I was first introduced to this song, but it's a fun song. So, how about if you had a million dollars? What would you do with it? Of course there's the responsible things to do with a million dollars--pay off debts, and such like that. Then there's the question of whether or not you give to charities, and how much. But, suppose you answered all those questions and you still had quite a lot left; what would you do with it? Maybe I'd go to Disney World. I've wanted to go, and I've never been able to. Or, perhaps I'd go to Germany and England, and Belgium (three of the countries my ancestors are from). Travel around seeing family and friends I don't see often. There's all kinds of possibilities. So, what about you? What would you do with a million dollars? Have A Tremendous Tuesday!

Spotlight On Author: Loretta Wheeler

Happy Tuesday Everyone, There's a gem of an author I've had the privilege of coming across...I'm talking about my friend, Loretta Wheeler. She's a sweetheart and very talented author. I enjoyed her YA Paranormal novella, The Pan Man immensely. And, she also writes Romance. So without further ado, come into my parlor and meet Loretta Wheeler: Me:  In your YA novelette, The Pan Man , you mention Pan's looking for his long lost soul mate. What made you choose Pan out of all the Greek/Roman gods and goddesses? Loretta:  I chose the Greek god Pan, because of the connection with the music. I found later on in the story, (my stories take over and write themselves usually) it applied even more than I realized because of the band's name. I won't mention the name of the band in here, because it's part of the surprise ending. Me:  You're mostly known for your Romance stories. How would you describe your writing style? Hot, suspenseful, sensual, sw...

Myths About Writers

Afternoon Folks, I thought we'd do a post to dispel some of the myths people seem to have about writers. I'll put the ones that first come to mind then y'all can chime in. Myth: Writing is a great way to make a lot of money. I'm not sure exactly how this one matriculated. Probably in the wake of some of the big best sellers (i.e. Stephen King, Anne Rice, Stephenie Meyer, JK Rowling, and the like) but most of the time writers put in more money for their writing than they do get out of it. Generally a writer doesn't make a ton of money unless somehow his/her book is a blockbuster hit and blasts through what the author owes in the advance (which is paid back to publishers through royalties). Most writers I've met and talked to are not millionaires. I'm not saying it can't happen, I'm saying it's not one of those things that's automatic. Myth: Writing Is Easy Anybody Can Do It. Okay, granted this isn't entirely a myth, but it's not ent...