I once read an article written by mystery novelist Phyllis Whitney concerning story pacing and suspense. She said the best advice she received was from the editor of Weird Tales Magazine, a highly respected pulp magazine published before she began writing novels. The editor said she shouldn't try to keep her stories at constant pitch, that readers grow as bored with continuous excitement as they do with nothing happening at all.
Pacing suspense is important because a reader needs time to relax between the action scenes. Another important aspect of writing suspense novels is that your reader will find endless passages of defeat and discouragement too unpleasant to read. Writers are, first and foremost, entertainers. And main characters’ lives should never be easy although small victories have to be paced strategically along the way to keep the plot interesting.
Much like mystery novelist Marlys Millhiser, Whitney started her novels with a setting, a place that gave her fresh and interesting material, although it may be located in her own backyard. In her first mystery novel, Red is for Murder, she went to Chicago’s loop to get behind-the-scenes research of the window dresssing business. Because the book only sold 3,000 copies, she returned to writing for children, but years later, the book was reprinted in a number of paperback editions as The Red Carnelian.
Once she had her setting, Whitney searched for a protagonist driven to solve a life and death situation. The more serious and threatening the problem, the higher the reader’s interest. Writera need to plot their stories around action scenes rather than the mundane. However, inner turmoil can be just as suspenseful as the threat of bodily harm if the writer remains aware of the character’s desperate need to reach a certain goal. Action doesn’t necessarily have to be violent.
The protagonist doesn’t know from the beginning of the story how to solve his problem, but sooner or later, he decides something needs to be done. That’s when the story actually begins. The character may make the wrong decision but he needs to do something rather than just drift along through several chapters.
Give your character(s) purpose and a goal to reach by the end of the book. If your protagonist is unable to reach her goal or solve her problem, bring in another character who can help. This new character may have ulterior motives or a different goal, and therein lies suspense.
An eccentric character can also provide suspense by doing the unexpected, thus making the situation worse. Whitney advised against more than one strange character per novel because it suspends belief. But any character doing the unexpected can build suspense. If the reader knows what’s going to happen next, she soon becomes bored and may lay the book aside. So to prevent that from happening, surprise your reader with something unusual although logical. Whitney had one of her characters making her way down a long, dark, narrow passageway when she suddenly touches a human face.
That’s not only unexpected, it's suspenseful.
Unable to leave a comment? Try downloading Google Chrome and type The View From My Mountaintop in the top search box.
As a reader, I fall for the character, they are who I remember and carry around long after the book. I remember reading Lonesome Dove (not a book I would ever have read, but I had a long flight to India) to this day I still remember Captain McCall and what he had to do and overcome. It's been ten years since I read that book but it feels like yesterday. Good reminder and post. thanks
ReplyDeleteBrenda, I agree that characters are the most important elements of any novel. Problems can be set anywhere, no matter how exotic, but it's the characters struggles' to solve the problem that leave a lasting impression on readers.
ReplyDeleteI like how important you make characters. As long as it's in character, the unexpected keeps me reading. Once it's out of character I just feel cheated.
ReplyDelete