How To Write Suspense - A Halloween Special

And, just to be clear, I’m not a huge fan of Halloween… never really have been.

I mean, couldn’t you find some other reason to give kids candy? And isn’t it a lot cheaper to go out and buy a huge bag of candy that day after Halloween, and you don’t have to go out in the cold and wear some prickly, freezing cold costume?!

But still, as a Halloween special, let’s talk about SUSPENSE. (And yes, I do have a post about writing realistic action here.)

But First

Let me - just kidding haha (did any of you get that?!)

Seriously though, for real now - and to create some more suspense XD - a quick little update.

For those of you who are more than average on the observant scale, you may have noticed that the design of the blog changed slightly. There's more of a darker pinkish red, fall, burnt vibe, and I added a logo.

Why??? Because *drumroll please* I'm starting up a business, and wanted it to match the new website... kinda.

Don't worry, you'll get lots more information on this new venture - and hopefully you're as excited as I am to be part of this new step!! But for now, let's just say... I'm going to be doing some more designing.

That's why the website changed a little, and why in a few weeks you can be expecting a VERY exciting email from me with more information and maybe a sneak peek into the new website?!

But now to quickly change topics again, back to suspense!

How do you keep your readers up until two in the morning? How do you force them to flip that next page, again and again and again because they JUST CAN’T STOP?!

Start With The Characters

Because, if your readers don’t care about the characters, they won’t care about what’s happening to the characters… and nothing you do, nothing you put your characters through will matter because the readers just don’t care.

Your characters are the most important part of creating suspense.

Everything in your story revolves around the characters - and if you have characters that aren’t sympathetic, no one will want to finish your story.

No matter how action-packed and "exciting" it is. If it isn't tied into your characters, it doesn't matter.

And think about the opposite of that - when readers care so so much about your characters. Just about anything will make them want to keep reading because they have such a deep love for the characters and want to know what will happen to them.

Anything you do to your characters will be suspenseful because your readers care so much.

So the first key to writing stories that keep readers up into the wee hours of the morning is sympathetic characters that make your readers care.

Second, Your Action Must Be Internal First

Kind of bouncing off the last point, internal conflict must come first, before anything external. Or you'll have a ton of gunfights and fistfights that literally no one cares about because it doesn't matter internally.

You have to know your characters' fears and lies and trauma - you have to know their character arc and who they are as a person - before you can make it suspenseful.

This is also one of the key ways you can take a story that doesn't have a lot of intense action, like a contemporary story, for example, and still give is solid suspense.

For example, in Captain America: Civil War, the whole movie is filled with quality, choreographed action, but it isn't until the very last scene when Cap and Iron Man are fighting that everyone's on the edge of their seats. Because that last scene has so much internal conflict that goes much deeper than the external action.

This is the difference between character-driven vs. plot-driven stories - the internal conflict comes first, and makes the following external conflict hit that much harder. (For a deeper explanation of character-driven vs plot-driven stories, check out Abbie Emmon's YouTube channel, or her podcast, The Kate And Abbie Show, on Spotify.)

Third, It Doesn't Matter What Happens

It matters who it happens to.

Don't just throw action and guns and battles in for the sake of "making it more exciting." That's not how it works.

For example, Black Widow has action scenes pretty much the entire movie. And the only reason people actually care is because it's Black Widow. And still, they don't have enough internal stakes to make it as emotionally thrilling as some of the Captain America movies. (Not to mention the numerous plot holes.)

Your action has to be relevant and needed - and it has to matter that is happens to your specific character. Tie it into their fears and misbeliefs and ghosts.

Make it matter that it's happening to them, not just that it's happening.

Fourth, Beauty Matters

Even in suspense and action, your writing can be beautiful and choreographed and masterful. The more fluid your action is, the more every single movement matters, the more suspenseful it will be, and your readers won't skip over it.

And make the action unique.

The same thing can't happen over and over again - and if you tie it into a character's internal conflict, this won't happen. But if you make sure to make your action beautiful and new, it will be that much more gripping.

Fifth, Shine Hope

Because without hope, there's not chance to win - no chance for your characters to fight past the darkness and the pain and the fear. And if there's not a chance of something in the future, your readers already know how it will end.

You have to promise hope and maybe even a win - you have to make your readers unsure of how it will end.

As some of you may know, I have recently joined The Author Conservatory, and have been working on a new story idea. When I brought the synopsis to a critique for the first time, though, the biggest thing they said was that it didn't have enough hope.

And if there isn't any hope, no one's going to keep reading.

So infuse even the darkest moment, even the scariest valley, with flickers of hope. Because we are promised that "in this world we will have trouble, but take heart!" God has overcome! We have hope, even in our darkest moment.

Our characters need to have that hope too. As writers, we are on a mission to give this world hope through our stories, even when it's scary and when it's hard.

There is a glimmer of hope.

In Conclusion

You can write a really, truly scary story this Halloween.

But you have to start with the characters and their internal conflict before the external plot points, you have to make it matter to that character, and you have to make it beautiful and hopeful.

Do that, and you'll have readers up till 3 AM unable to stop turning the pages.

And never forget, every word you write is for God's glory. Whether it's suspense, or romance, or tragedy, it's all for God. It's why we write. It's why we're different than other authors.

We're made for God's glory. We write for God's glory. And even suspense can be used to give Him the glory He deserves.