This
post is addressed to writers, but I’m sure readers will get something out of
it, if not merely a good chuckle.
You’re sitting alone watching a late night
movie (such as DIAL M FOR MURDER by Alfred Hitchcock) and for some strange
reason your heart races, you cling to your spouse or pet, you want to cover
your eyes, but you just can’t. And even
if you do, you’re peeking between your fingers.
And at some point you scream at the TV, “DON’T OPEN THAT DOOR!”
You might not actually scream, but when it
comes to that moment, you want to, right?
What makes grown adults’ hands grow
clammy, breaths grow short, and hearts
race?
One word:
Suspense.
We all love the experience, don’t we?
To illustrate the point: Don’t you just
hate it when someone is telling a great story, or even a funny joke, and then
just before it’s done, another person who knows the ending, or the punchline just
blurts it out? It makes the people in
the room want to assassinate that person with throw pillows, doesn’t it?
We all love the rush of watching or reading
(in the safety of our living rooms or beds) someone else facing danger,
dismemberment, or certain death. Some of
us love the feeling of not knowing whether our hero or heroine will survive the
impending event.
But what makes this experience so
good? It’s not the shock of something
completely unexpected. True, some of us
love that, it’s the thrill of sudden danger.
Some don’t like shocks, though and prefer knowing what is lying beyond
that door. It’s being a step ahead of
our heroine, watching her unknowingly turn the doorknob to the door behind
which she heard something fall. And all
along, we know, we see the ax-murdered, weapon poised, waiting for her to
enter.
Just as she turns the doorknob, and the
door creaks open…
Cut to a commercial break! (Nooo!!)
Or the chapter ends and though your eyes
are red and sore from sleep deprivation, you can’t help but turn the page. Only, the next chapter is a different
character’s subplot. And if your
friendly neighborhood author has done his/her job well, this chapter will leave off on yet another cliff hanger. Before you know it, you’re following 2-3 different
story lines, the chapters of which all leave you literally hanging from a
ledge.
Now since you can’t possibly sleep knowing
that three of your favorite characters are about to face certain disaster—AND
each chapter is really only 2-3 pages, so it will not take long to get to the
next fix—er.. I mean chapter—you might as well read “just one more chapter.”
It’s now 4AM, and you haven’t put the book
down. You figure, it’s too late to get
enough sleep anyway, you’ll probably just call in sick (ah, yes—brilliant
idea!) That way, you can just finish the
darn book without interruption, right?
The whole point of suspense, be it in film
or on the written page, is to keep your audience on their toes, addicted to the
story, and coming back for more. As a writer,
we can’t give our readers just what they think they want (resolution) until the
story is over. The moment you resolve
anything, it’s over.
In my books, I like to resolve conflicts
only to crack open another bigger complication.
So while my reader thinks something is going to be resolved, and indeed,
it may be—it’s really only a teaser to a bigger problem. I keep doing this till
the climax (deny resolution almost to the point of delightful frustration) then
make sure the payoff is huge. I want my readers
to feel emotionally, even physically drained at the end of my books, and yet
satisfied.
If I’ve done my job well, they are going to
want more.
DISCLAIMER:
I am not responsible for any parallels you may draw from the analogies
in this post. Any such comparisons stem
from your own imagination, for better or worse :) , and yet, if I evoked
imagery or emotional memories of things other than the superficial meanings of
my words, then perhaps I have done my job again.
Guest post by Joshua Graham. Joshua Graham is the award winning author
of the #1 Amazon and Barnes & Noble legal thriller BEYOND JUSTICE. His latest book DARKROOM won a First Prize award in the
Forward National Literature award and was an award-winner in the USA Book News
“Bests Books 2011” awards.
Connect with Josh at the following:
Twitter:@J0shuaGraham
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| Joshua Graham |
1 Comments
Great post Joshua! Writing a good suspense is certainly a delicate balancing act.
ReplyDeleteI love to hear from you. So feel free to comment, but keep in mind the basics of blog etiquette — no spam, no profanity, no slander, etc.
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