Suspenseful
🏷️ Storytelling
A: What is suspense?
B: Suspense sets up a question, or several, that the audience hopes to get the answer to, and delays that answer while maintaining their interest and keeping them guessing
A: What are some techniques I can use to achieve this in my own writing?
B: You can limit the point of view instead of the omniscient narrator, who can see and tell everything that happens. You tell the story from the perspective of the characters. They may start off knowing just as little as the audience does, and as they learn more, so do we. You also need to choose the right setting and imagery. Old mansions or castles with winding halls and secret passageways suggest that disturbing things are being concealed. Nighttime, fog, and storms all play similar roles in limiting visibility and restricting character’s movements
A: Okay. I know what I can do, but how?
B: You can build suspense by carefully paying attention not just to what happens, but how it is conveyed and paced. Dramatic irony is also a good tool. You should reveal key parts of the big secret to the audience but not the characters. The mystery becomes not what will happen, but when and how the characters will learn.
A: Is that all?
B: No. There is one more technique, but you should beware of overusing this one.
A: What is it?
B: The cliffhanger
A: How does this technique work?
B: It works by cutting off chapter, episode, volume, or season right before something crucial is revealed; or in the midst of a dangerous situation with a slim chance of hope
A: It is easy to do.
B: Yes. But it doesn’t always work
A: Why?
B: Because the wait, whether moments or years, makes us imagine the possibilities about what could happen next, building extra suspense. The awful thing is almost avoided, creating a sense of closure and emotional release