Sure, you can find plenty of plug-in rules about how to create suspense when things are turning flat. And I’m a big fan of life-rafts when you’re drifting out into murky water with no end in sight. When things go flat, kill off a character; start a fight; complicate the plot with a new twist. Use short sentences. Up the action at the end of chapters. Insert a “ticking time-bomb”—a deadline we’re working with to get the heart racing. These can be helpful devices, but rather than think of them as “rules,” you should really consider them your last resort. The thing is, it’s impossible to say which element of fiction is the most important—and that’s because they all work together to make the story tick along. Researching my new novel, I’ve learned botanists argue this “what’s most important” debate over water, air, soil, and sun. But what’s the point? You need them all, and the more you write, the more interconnected each element becomes—characterization, dialogue, conflict, word choice, and pacing strengthen each other when you really get the hang of it. And once you do, the next plot point presents itself naturally; it doesn’t need to be arbitrarily plucked from the storyteller’s salad bar. You can feel the difference when you’re writing, and your reader will become all the more absorbed into the illusion for your efforts.
Here, three ways to naturally pick up your pace:
Dialogue
Why it works: Dialogue isn’t just a way to fill up lines, it isn’t even merely a way to get to know a character…it’s an integral mechanism in telling your story. And if used well, you can—and should—advance the plot with conversation. Provide new information. If you’re going to say something we already know, complicate the way you tell it—maybe the character conceals part of the truth in his conversation, which makes us suspicious, or he might reveal an extra layer of feeling or information about what’s happening. Witnessing a revealing conversation the pages fly along because we feel like we’re experiencing things at the same time as the characters; rather than being told, we’re immersed in the action. This allows us to form our own opinion, so as a reader, we feel involved and emotionally invested—key elements in page-turnability.
Characterization
Why it works: We care about well-developed, sympathetic characters, and want to see what happens to them. Because strong characters were the element of fiction that came most naturally to me, it took longer for me to truly appreciate how important and integrated good characterization is to moving a story along. Consider this: you’re writing a thriller. You’ve set us up nicely with the idea that your character is terrified of driving. Not only is there an external conflict, but there’s an emotional element. He’s lost a brother in an accident, where he was the driver. He never drove again. If we know this all along, see him struggle with it—the social stigmas, the inconveniences—then when the time comes that his driving is going to be vital in fighting the baddies and saving the world, we’ll be turning pages furiously, our hearts beating to see if he can do it. There’re a few reasons why: 1. We’re emotionally invested in his overcoming this conflict, 2. We all wonder how we would fare in a disaster situation—panicked or a hero? And we get to virtually play this out through our guy here. 3. We’ve filed that bit about his phobia, and now we’re putting together the pieces, guessing how clever we are in picking up on the clues. And this is what makes a book entertaining to read!
Conflict
Why it works: If we can’t rest until whatever’s at stake is settled, you’ve got page-turnability. We need to have a vested interest, otherwise why read on? We need to be uncertain about what will happen next, but have enough information to have formed some substantial hunches. In a thriller, it’s a global game—the biggest stakes. But it doesn’t have to be life or death to keep a reader interested. If you get the characterization and the sense of moving action right, nearly any conflict will do. A lonely man is looking for romance. A widow seeks a reason to go on. A young woman wants to overcome her difficult past. So what makes for quality conflict? 1. A natural build-up that you’ve set up as the story unfolds. If, on the other hand, you dump a bunch of info the second before you need a conflict to unfold, your readers will be unconvinced of the authenticity. For instance, if you tell us he’s terrified of snakes right before he comes face to face with dozens of them, which he’s got to get past to save the woman he loves. 2. Lots of hurdles for our hero to overcome, each of which allows us to see growth in our character. 3. Solutions that depend on the actions of our hero—it can’t be dumb luck that sees him succeed; it can’t be simple to overcome. In essence, this is the simplest essence of storytelling: a character goes on a journey (emotional or physical) and changes and grows along the way.
What are your thoughts on suspense? Which books do you think achieve the greatest level of page-turnability?
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