1. MUSTANG LIBRARY PRESENTS: SUSPENSE!

2. What is suspense? When you think of suspense, what do you think of?
Who are some of your favorite authors?
What were some of your favorite scenes?
Name some of your favorite series characters.

3. Favorite Authors Lee Child Clive Cussler Tami Hoag Harlan Coben
Dean Koontz
James Rollins

4. Elements of Suspense Chase Ticking Clock Reverses
Small mysteries about character and overall plot
Character development is put on a backburner for the most part
Lots of action
Unreliable narrator

5. Suspense Flavors International Domestic Historical Archeological
Psychological
Horror
In fact, there’s no genre suspense isn’t a part of

6. Viewpoint 3rd person singular 3rd person multiple 1st person
Mix of 1st and 3rd

7. Through-line(s)
A through-line is a theme or idea that runs from the beginning of the book to the end
Should you have one or more?
If you have more than one through-line, does the main one change as the hero learns information/gets redirected?
Do multiple through-lines detract or add to the reading experience?
Should the villain(s) have a through-line as well?

8. Heroes & Villains
Can be larger than life, but have to be understandable
Can be average people trapped in extraordinary circumstance
Should you have multiple heroes/villains?
What is the difference between a first tier character and a second tier character?
All of the main characters should be fleshed out BEFORE writing begins.
You can still discover things about your characters along the way.
45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt

9. Plotting 3-act structure
split (in some suspense, it might be closer to )
2nd act breaks in the middle as character grows/changes/figures things out
James Scott Bell calls this the Mirror Moment and it’s in a lot of films, especially suspense movies
Endings have to be well thought-out, crafted, and not just “fall together”
Readers want to see the hero succeed, the villain get trounced, and the mysteries get solved

10. Surprises/Twists
Readers of suspense get bored easily if they think they can figure out your story
Good guy struggling against bad guy?
No stress there. We know the hero wins.
Except in horror stories. Good guys don’t always win there.
So you have to pull rabbits out of hats, change up the pacing, reset the ticking clock, and add others to the chase to ramp up the suspense
You always have to change the game, take away hero resources, take away information, let the character know the plan has been built on a lie
Character needs to be betrayed by someone they depended on
All of this has to be organic to the story, can’t just come out of left field

11. NCIS episode Opening teaser—a murder occurs
1st act—investigation begins and general idea is formed
2nd act—more information comes in, what was really going on was something different after all
3rd act—again, more information, something different again
4th act—final confrontation
The writers manage to introduce lots of sketched-in background information through the use of Ducky, Abbie, and the computer monitor reviews
Those episodes spin like a Swiss watch

12. Bones of Suspense
Begin with an exciting moment (Clive Cussler, James Rollins) or an interesting one (Tami Hoag, Lee Child)
Use engaging heroes in a fight for their lives
Story is told primarily moment by moment, not summarized—push ever scene for excitement
Constantly raise the stakes—isolate and beat your heroes near to death
Stay close to the bone on the story line—even when you’re working in subplots—all of that has to work together
It’s better to start with a developed outline
Work out a timeline to keep your ticking clock effective
Recommended reading: SUPER STRUCTURE and PLOT & STRUCTURE by James Scott Bell. MAKING A SCENE by Jordan E. Rosenfeld. WRITING THRILLERS by Michael Newton. SCENE & STRUCTURE by Jack Bickham.