Elements of Suspense

Elements of Suspense

By Jillian Gervino

What is suspense?

​Suspense keeps the reader wondering.

In a good suspense story, the reader wants to continue reading because they want to know what will happen next, or how the story will end. The story often keeps the reader at the edge of their seat. To build suspense in a story, a writer must provide hints to ​the final outcome without giving it away until the end.

​Once you introduce the basics of your story, you must use every trick possible to delay the final outcome. Make the reader want to know the answer, but don't give it to them.

Building Suspense in Writing

• Conflict

• Pacing​

• Red herrings

• Atmosphere

• High stakes​

So what are the tricks?

Open Ended

What is suspense?

Multiple Choice

In a suspense story, the author works to keep the reader guessing what will happen next.

• True

• False

Conflict

​Element of Suspense #1

Creating conflict is all about including a main problem that needs to be solved. Conflict is CRUCIAL to creating suspense​ because it will keep the reader wondering. For instance: Who will win the fight--The Avengers or Thanos? What will happen to the person stranded in the ocean? What will Jonas' assignment be?

Pacing

​Element of Suspense #2

The pace of a suspense story is very important. If a writer focuses on every small detail and takes too long to tell the story, the reader will become bored with the plot. ​Most suspense stories are written with a quick pace. Perhaps your conflict has a deadline, or a short time limit for it to be solved.

Red herrings

​Element of Suspense #3

What's a red herring? Red herrings are clues that lead the reader to the WRONG answer--you make the reader think they know what is going to happen; however they are actually wrong. This element is a fantastic way to create suspense because it makes the reader want to keep working to solve the conflict.

Atmosphere

​Element of Suspense #4

Atmosphere refers to the setting of the story and the overall feeling of that place. ​Mood and tone can have a major impact in building suspense of a story. For example, setting your story in a dark, abandoned building will make readers feel more on-edge than a busy theme park on a sunny day.

High stakes

​Element of Suspense #5

To keep readers on edge, a story must have high stakes. If a story was all about a character losing $5.00 everyday, the reader probably wouldn't care much. On the other hand, if the conflict in the story leads to life or death, this would be much more worrisome for the reader.

Multiple Choice

Conflict is...

• a clue to the final outcome.

• the mood and tone of the story.

• the main problem in the story.

Multiple Choice

A red herring is...

• a quick pace in a story.

• a fake clue in a story.

• the high stakes in a story.

Multiple Choice

Which type of pacing creates suspense?

• Quick and conflicted

• Slow and detailed

Multiple Select

Atmosphere refers to which of the following?

• Setting

• Mood

• Tone

Open Ended

Explain what it means for a story to have high stakes?

Let's check out some examples!

​Copy and paste the following link into a new tab:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wz54zEEaXk

​

Open Ended

Which of the five elements of suspense (conflict, pacing, red herrings, atmosphere, high stakes) do you observe in the clip? Provide examples.

​Copy and paste the following link into a new tab:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BdzNX4JTKI​

​

Open Ended

Which of the five elements of suspense (conflict, pacing, red herrings, atmosphere, high stakes) do you observe in the clip? Provide examples.

The End--good work!​