Book, Novel, Screenplay

2012 Book, Novel | Plot And Structure  |  Free Tips For Writers  |  Writing Screenplays  |  Home

Book mark This Site | Search This Site For Free Writing Tips | Site map

Click Here: Professionally Recommended Books And Software By Writers For Writers

* Double Click On Any Word On This Site For Automatic Definition Or Information *

Give us a review, share, or book mark on:

2012 Book

 

Book Tips Free For Writers - Plot and Structure of your Book

 - Part 9

Click To Start Here With Plot And Structure Part 1

(Double-click any word you want defined.)

 

Suspense In The Book

Suspense in a book is created by Anticipation. Don't give out all the info at once. Leak it out by agonizing degrees, just show the tip of the iceberg.

Increase the importance of the Objective, the Imperative. How bad does the Character Want It? How Important is it to Others? Raise the Importance of it. Raise the Stakes.

 

Inject Danger to the scene. It can be Physical Danger, Sexual, or Business - Financial, Psychological, or dangerous to Others.

 

 

The Ticking Clock sets a Time Limit inside the book. There should be a Ticking Clock presiding over the Action in all Scenes, all Chapters, all Acts, and for the whole Book Overall. The Ticking Clock drives Plot by dictating how little time there is to Act. It puts Pressure on the Lead, and on the Reader. Make the Lead and the Reader aware of the Clock and it's constraints at every level, for every second.

 

The book Ticking Clock can be made even more suspenseful by arranging for the Lead to be Powerless To Act, Unable to Move Forward, Stuck. Something External or Internal, physical or psychological, inhibits her, is preventing her from taking Action, while events and the Antagonist close around her like a Vise of steel. Maybe all she can think of is the Future, or the Past, or she's just stuck in the Present. She might be tied up in Anticipation ---Suspense about the Future.

 

What's the Great Secret? Who Dunnit? What can't the author let the Reader know? The greater the Importance of the Secret, the Greater the Suspense.. The closer the Reader gets to the Answer, the mores/he wants to know, but can't, which creates Frustration and Suspense.

 

The Character is Desperate, like in my 2012 book, at the End Of His Rope, must Succeed in his Objective, against all the Odds, the Antagonist, the Conflict, the Ticking Clock, and all the rest of obstacles inside the book. Bring this out. Create Suspense in the Reader and get her to keep turning the book's pages.

Make Conflict and Suspense inevitable. Make your characters, and your Groups Of Characters so Diametrically Opposed that there can be Nothing But Conflict between them, like oil and water, fire and ice, Conflicting Objectives from the outset. Show the inner Conflict of the Lead and the Antagonist, how Badly They want The Objective, each in their own way for their own Desperately overwhelming reasons.

 

More Free Book Tips For Writers

Back To Plot And Structure 8  |  Back To The Beginning Of Plot - Structure

Free Tips For Writers, Part II, Continue Here

Screenplay Writing |  Bookmark This Site

The Book - 2012- The Novel

Powered By Cops Plus