1. Than_urb

    Than_urb Member

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    Strengthen the plot/suspense

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Than_urb, May 18, 2020.

    Hello guys,

    I wrote 3 versions of my first novel and already murder my darlings, adjust character personnalities, improve overall style...

    My readers (alphas and betas) like the characters, the style and the atmosphere but pointed out a lack of suspense. They said: "You take the reader by the hand and the story is pleasant but it miss something that grab you, that making yourself asking what comes next ? "

    So guys, do you have some tricks or tools to improve that ? As I will write a 4th version focused on that precise point...

    Thank you very much and good luck for your writings :)



    Than
     
  2. nutkins

    nutkins New Member

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  3. Madman

    Madman Life is Sacred Contributor

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    Yes, we should all communicate using googled links only!

    To OP.
    Without having reviewed the above link, I will share a few tips that I'm using. I am by no means an expert in the area.

    A. Try to create mysterious characters who interact with the MC and whose motives are unclear to the reader until you reveal them.

    B. Keep secrets from the reader! No need to reveal everything.

    C. This one can be tricky, but don't keep everything absolutely clear all the time. "Is James going to the dance with Nicole or not? He said so to Evan, but denied it when speaking to Rachel!"

    Perhaps you need an overarching event that drives the story? A big secret or a terrible event? Something that will alter lives. It can be hard to tell without knowing more about the story. Is it a horror story? What genre is it? We may need to know more to be able to help you better.
     
  4. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Hitchcock said if the viewer (reader) knows there's a bomb under the table that's going to go off in 3 minutes but the characters sitting at the table don't know it, that's suspense. I hope I'm remembering that right. I think it would be even more suspenseful if one character does know about the bomb, and has to try to get out before it goes off without seeming suspicious, and he's stopped by a talkative antagonist—think of a Tarantino gangster who wants to talk his ear off and won't let him get out, with the strongly implied threat of shooting him if he tries.

    Of course this gets overdone massively with countdowns (I'm looking at YOU Armageddon!! Weren't there like 3 or 4 desperate countdowns in that movie?), but think about the idea behind it and substitute other situations. Maybe the drag racers don't know the road is out a mile ahead, in a dark stretch of forest so it's hard to see it, but the reader does.

    Hitchcock, Tarantino, and David Lynch all make movies dripping with palpable tension. In fact they crank it up so high it's almost unbearable. You might try watching a few of their films and then write a bunch of short experimental pieces (not finished stories, just practice vignettes) concentrating on building tension/suspense.
     
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  5. Than_urb

    Than_urb Member

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    Oh thanks guys, that's something interesting to work on :)

    It's real-life like story, painting the youth generation (25 yo guys trying to find their way) close to what wrote Breat Easton Ellis (no comparison tried here, just an illustration).

    Yeah I definitely will, but I am not sure my setup and overall plot will match good with their movies. I gonna give a try cause it sounds good but difficult in my case...
     
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  6. peachalulu

    peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

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    I've been reading some other stories on other sites and I find one of the things that undercut the suspense is reassuring the reader before the scene has come to the end that the character would be just fine.
    The reader is supposed to be the mc or feel what the mc is feeling and the writer should never intrude on the scene to clear it up/wrap it up too quickly. The mc should never be hanging from a cliff by their fingertips and then thinking - thank God for all those pushups I did and then she pulls herself easily up. You have to be there in the moment - uncertain of their fate. Make the reader believe that unease. They should always feel there is more than one outcome. The reader should never think well they'll get themselves out of this jam okay. They should think - even if they don't die they still might fall, something bad might happen.
    Keep the readers guessing.
    The Hitchcock theory is -
     
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  7. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Yeah, what you need to do is figure out how they're able to create so much tension. Once you get good at recognizing it, and understand how it's done in those kind of movies you should be able to translate it into your genre. I mean, I've definitely had Tarantino-like conversations with really authoritarian people who don't want to let me go and keep ratcheting up the tension, but generally they aren't going to kill me if I piss them off.

    Lessons you can take from Tarantino (off the top of my head):

    A really high-strung (authoritarian) person who demands everybody do things his way gets really worked up and dominates the conversation. He (or she) seems to be friendly on the surface, but is at the same time very pushy and invasive—it's clear there's a strong and growing threat if you don't do what they want. But you can't for whatever reason.

    Maybe you just did something like stole something from his room, and it's tucked in your shirt when he suddenly shows up unexpectedly. A folder with some very sensitive material in it or something. You were going to put it back before he arrived. And he's a 'toucher', he constantly keeps putting his hands on you while talking, acting all friendly, and you're afraid he's going to feel the folder. You keep trying to get away with excuses, but he keeps grabbing you and talking real loud and putting his hands on you, moving closer to where the folder is, and then he touches it. He gets silent, looks at it quizzically, and taps on it. He says "What's this, huh? What is it? Secret documents? Huh? You spying on me? Huh?"You think it's all over now, but he just makes some joke about all the sit-ups you must be doing and laughs for a long time, then lets you go. That's tension and suspense. And ok, it's still a little Tarantino, maybe in your story nobody steals anything from somebody else, but you can find a way to build the same kind of tension in different situations.
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2020
  8. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    What you could also do is watch anything that's similar to your story—a movie or TV show, or read a similar kind of book, and look for tension/suspense. Analyze how it was created and think about how you could apply that to your story.
     
  9. Mocheo Timo

    Mocheo Timo Senior Member

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    I agree with @Madman, keeping secrets is one of the best ways to build tension. If you know how to budget the information you give to the reader, you can keep them on their toes, without making them turn away by overcomplicating things. The reader shouldn't be underestimated, either. And No Country for Old Men is a good movie that shows this.

    I also think symbols could be helpful. You can use symbols throughout the novel that exploit the fears and touch on traumas which your characters have experienced. A brown boot may not mean much to the reader, but it becomes a source of suspense if you know it was the only thing found on the site where the MC's father drowned.
     

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