Suspense

Written by Jeff Heisler


Suspense

He had never killed a man before. Looking down atrepparttar lifeless body at his feet, Harold wondered if it would berepparttar 129514 last time. Want to know more? Good. That’srepparttar 129515 point. So how do you create this suspense? It’s easier than you think. Just keep two things in mind when you construct your story- conflict, and question. Conflict drives all fiction. There’s no story without it. Let me show you an example of writing devoid of conflict. Helen sat comfortably in her easy chair. She had a bowl of warm popcorn in her lap and a soda onrepparttar 129516 end table. A few yards away her television flickered as she surfedrepparttar 129517 channels looking for something interesting to watch. She settled on a documentary aboutrepparttar 129518 Amazon. She’d always like documentaries. Asrepparttar 129519 evening passedrepparttar 129520 popcorn ran out andrepparttar 129521 soda can emptied- but she didn’t mind. She was comfortable. After a few hours she stood up, stretched, and gathered her popcorn bowl and empty soda can. She set them both inrepparttar 129522 kitchen sink and slunk off to bed.

So, do you want to read 300 pages of this? I didn’t think so. Now watch this.

She didn’t know he was there. Whilerepparttar 129523 microwave rattled, heating a bag of popcorn,repparttar 129524 man moved furtively downrepparttar 129525 hallway. Helen waited forrepparttar 129526 popping to slow. She openedrepparttar 129527 microwave, and emptiedrepparttar 129528 warm bag of popcorn in a large plastic bowl. She grabbed a soda fromrepparttar 129529 fridge and walked torepparttar 129530 living room. She didn’t suspect anything was wrong when she picked uprepparttar 129531 remote and surfedrepparttar 129532 dial for something interesting to watch. There were no suspicious rustles or creaks. No shadows moving inrepparttar 129533 distance. Just her house, empty and neat- just like always. Onrepparttar 129534 tube a documentary onrepparttar 129535 Amazon flashed into view. Helen putrepparttar 129536 remote down and settled deeper in her chair. Just another Sunday night. Another cozy, uneventful Sunday night.

From Helen’s point of view- it’srepparttar 129537 same scene. Fromrepparttar 129538 reader’s point of view there’s a big difference. The second scene is loaded with conflict. Notice thatrepparttar 129539 conflict doesn’t have to be visible torepparttar 129540 characters, but it must always be visible torepparttar 129541 reader. Inrepparttar 129542 second example,repparttar 129543 reader knows that Helen is in danger. As they read,repparttar 129544 voice in their mind screams at Helen- “There’s a man inrepparttar 129545 house! Look out!” The conflict is felt byrepparttar 129546 reader even if it’s not felt byrepparttar 129547 character. Keepingrepparttar 129548 reader inrepparttar 129549 grips of this conflict creates a “page-turner.”

Character Creation

Written by Jeff Heisler


Character Creation

Creating believable characters is an essential element of fiction. The story rest on your characters shoulders. If they don't hold up then your story collapses. So how do you make believable characters? First recognize that different genres of fiction have different needs. A tightly plotted action or suspense thriller may not need characters fleshed out in detail as much as a literary novel. Also be aware thatrepparttar more outlandish your plot is,repparttar 129513 more important character believability becomes. Read any Steven King book and you'll see this. The reason he can take us on these journeys through strange and unusual events is his power to create realistic characters. When we believerepparttar 129514 character, we believe what's happening to them. The process of creating characters is so varied I suspect there are as many methods as there are authors. As always, take these tips as guidelines- not law. Every writer must do what works for him or her. These ideas will hopefully serve as a springboard to get you on your way. Here's how I create my characters: Step 1- Considerrepparttar 129515 story. In generalrepparttar 129516 more my emphasis rest onrepparttar 129517 plot ofrepparttar 129518 book,repparttar 129519 more my characters need to serve that plot. Ifrepparttar 129520 story focus is more character based then my plot needs to serverepparttar 129521 character. If I need a character that will chase down a killer then I better design someone who’s able to do that. Everything from their build to their psychology must help them get torepparttar 129522 killer. Now it's important not to makerepparttar 129523 character a perfect fit. No one is perfect, that's what makes life interesting. Your characters should have flaws that make it uncomfortable for them to reach their goal. For examplerepparttar 129524 character chasingrepparttar 129525 killer might have a wife and family that worry about his safety. This creates tension- tension drives story. When constructing a more literary work thenrepparttar 129526 character should be in mind already, andrepparttar 129527 plot forms around them. For example- a coming of age story requires a young character who will experience events that will shape their life. If you don't have those elements you don't have a coming of age story- so your plot must support your character. Step 2- Get to know your character. I like to use a form that looks like an extensive dossier when I create my characters. For supporting charactersrepparttar 129528 dossier is smaller, but still quite detailed. Design one for yourself and be sure to include details about: • The character's appearance. • Their habits and mannerisms. • Their motivations. • Their past. • Howrepparttar 129529 character will change inrepparttar 129530 course ofrepparttar 129531 story. Don't makerepparttar 129532 mistake of assumingrepparttar 129533 bad guys don't need as much character detail- they do, particularly in motivation. Sure a story about a killer is suspenseful and scary, but if you have a killer who murders because he sees his abusive father in every victim, well- that's a little richer. Remember-repparttar 129534 bad guys have motivations that seem good to them. Hitler thought he was a nice guy- your bad guy should too.

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