Suspense stories aim to intrigue and unsettle readers by building anticipation for potential threats. Effective suspense relies on sympathetic main characters facing increasing dangers. Settings are often isolating with looming weather adding tension. Plots involve external conflicts and unexpected obstacles delaying resolution through rising action and surprises. Common techniques include foreshadowing, flashbacks, cliffhangers, and time constraints to prolong suspense until the climax.
Suspense stories aim to intrigue and unsettle readers by building anticipation for potential threats. Effective suspense relies on sympathetic main characters facing increasing dangers. Settings are often isolating with looming weather adding tension. Plots involve external conflicts and unexpected obstacles delaying resolution through rising action and surprises. Common techniques include foreshadowing, flashbacks, cliffhangers, and time constraints to prolong suspense until the climax.
Suspense stories aim to intrigue and unsettle readers by building anticipation for potential threats. Effective suspense relies on sympathetic main characters facing increasing dangers. Settings are often isolating with looming weather adding tension. Plots involve external conflicts and unexpected obstacles delaying resolution through rising action and surprises. Common techniques include foreshadowing, flashbacks, cliffhangers, and time constraints to prolong suspense until the climax.
Suspense stories aim to intrigue and unsettle readers by building anticipation for potential threats. Effective suspense relies on sympathetic main characters facing increasing dangers. Settings are often isolating with looming weather adding tension. Plots involve external conflicts and unexpected obstacles delaying resolution through rising action and surprises. Common techniques include foreshadowing, flashbacks, cliffhangers, and time constraints to prolong suspense until the climax.
Alfred Hitchcock What is Suspense? • Suspense: the thrill of anticipation and excitement regarding the outcome of a situation.
• Suspense writers makes the reader feel…
• Intrigued • Unsettled • Anxious • Fearful • Nervous Most suspense stories have main characters that share certain qualities: • Sympathetic: if you don’t care about the main character, you are not compelled to read on. • Must face danger, a threat that Characters in steadily increases. • Often has a fear that must be Suspense Stories faced and hopefully conquered…but not always! • Motivation for their actions are clear and credible. • Environment is threatening. • Suspense stories mostly occur at night. • Examples: old house with many shadowy places, isolated cabin, dense forest. • Weather may add to tension, perhaps a raging storm or isolating blizzard Setting in Suspense Stories • A conflict is introduced, usually an external conflict. • As the character attempts to Plot in face the conflict, problems and obstacles delay resolution. Suspense • Unexpected twists, turns, and surprises arise. Story • Pacing: rising action must involve more anticipation than actual violence; good suspense involves delay. • Foreshadowing • Flashback Common • Cliffhanger Techniques • Red Herring
Used in • Irony (Dramatic)
• Obstacles Suspense • Time Constraints • Isolation Foreshadowing is the main vehicle for creating suspense Readers can identify foreshadowing by looking for:
Visual Imagery: There are certain images we always associate with
suspense (dark figures, old houses, sharp objects, clouds, rain, thunder, lighting. They usually foreshadow ominous events. Sounds: tapping at the window, knocking on a door, the whistling of the wind, a creaking floor. Repetitive sounds and noises coming from unseen sources probably mean something bad is about to happen. Color: Objects are usually dark, gray, or even black. Any sort of darkness or lack of light foreshadows ominous events.
Sudden Changes: Certain events begin to disturb the normalcy of the
characters' lives. Changes that are especially unusual or sudden signal portentous events.