Writing Focus: Suspense

We’ve all read them, the stories that leave you hanging on the edge of your seat right up until the very last word. They twist and turn at every corner, leaving you as a reader completely unsuspecting to any plot twists until the very second that they happen. These stories employ the most incredible sense of suspense, and so can you!

What Is Suspense?

Suspense is, simply put, what you feel when you’re unsure of what will happen. It can often be a mix of fear, apprehension, and excitement that leaves you teetering on your heels, waiting for the mystery to be solved. Suspense can come in all forms, but it is most common within thriller or action stories as it keeps the reader hooked right into every word.

Tips

Often utilised in stories, the most common way of using suspense is through cliffhanger endings, but you can also use suspense to your advantage throughout a story by swapping points-of-view after a massive event and only mentioning the outcome towards the end of the chapter or section of writing. This keeps the reader going forward, excited to find out what will happen in the future to the character or characters that have been placed in an unusual or tense situation.

The easiest way to create a suspenseful atmosphere, aside from using a cliffhanger-like layout, is to take a tense situation and further elevate the worry by using short, snappy sentences. These raise suspense levels through the roof and create a rushed atmosphere that not only seems to speed up the dynamic of the entire piece, but elevates the level of suspense that the reader will be feeling whilst reading through!

The easiest way, however, to inject some suspense into your story is to utilise description. Your word choice can make or break a sentence, so if you’re looking for a suspenseful trip for the reader, then use words with dark or dangerous connotations to elevate that heightened sense of panic for the character!

Prompts

Looking to introduce some suspense into your storylines? Check out these prompts to give you a helping hand!

1. Your character is taking part in a high-speed car chase. Using short, snappy sentences and near misses for the character create a suspenseful scene that ends badly for either the character or the party chasing the character.
2. It is dark and your character is walking alone down an abandoned street. Utilising word choice and sentence structure, show the heightened sense of alarm that the character feels.

Suspense is one of the simplest things to write into a story, but it can also be the most effective. If you’re looking for a way to introduce that main villain or to put your character through extreme hardship, be sure to introduce suspense into your scenes to make them more hard-hitting!

Special thanks to mmmxalright and silent hearts. for editing!