The Secret to Writing Great Suspense

[Jude Hardin]

I'll tell you tomorrow.

[Jude Hardin]

Hi Angela. I love Hitchcock! Haven't seen that one. I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

[Roger Newbury]

Have you seen FRENZY? this is another Hitchcock film, set in 60's London with Barry 'Van Der Valk' Foster. This was I feel a very tongue-in-cheek thiller, as there seemed to be some elements of comedy that I don't believe were strictly intentional! But I still think it's a great film.

[Jude Hardin]

I think I saw that, many years ago. I'll have to revisit it. Thanks, Roger.

[Eric Christopherson]

FYI, one of the screen writers on Strangers was Raymond Chandler. (He and Hitch apparently didn't get along.)

[Jude Hardin]

I'll have to check her out, Joan. Thanks!

[Roger Newbury]

Angela... you're welcome. There are several moments in the film that may make you wonder, but I still rate it as one of my favourite Hitchcock films, along with The Birds.

I woke up this morning with a really crazy idea for a story. Where it came from, I have no knowledge; it's a comedyish styled crime story set in a fictional remote hamlet in southern England. I also intend to work on two very different comedy stage play variations of this project as well, and yes, one will be with Sherlock Holmes as the main protagonist!
I decided however to break with my traditional method of simply booting up the PC and cracking on with the story, by hand-writing out the basic plotline, and characterisations on A4 sized paper. (Something I very rarely do, as I feel more comfortable letting the story flow straight onto the screen, but, hey-ho!)
I'm going to try and feed my time into this project, along with the countless other stories I'm working on... (did I tell you I have an hyper-active imagination?)... if only there were more hours in the day! Sheesh!
I'll keep you updated on its progress.

[Jude Hardin]

The best books and films use both to great effect, I think. Thanks, Jon!

[Jack Getze]

Carolyn Wheat has a great book out that dwells on creating suspense. WRITING KILLER FICTION. She says the best suspense books use multiple points of view, exactly because of Jon's idea/quote--the reader can't know about that killer at the dark top of the stairs if the book is written only in the girl's first person. Got lambasted on another site for saying this, but I think Ms. Wheat has a strong point. The (potentially) best suspense uses multiple POVs.

[Jude Hardin]

Love that book. Another thing she suggests is to always end a scene by answering the question, "Did the character get what s/he wanted?" with yes, but... or no, and furthermore...

Using multiple POVs is also a good way to set up situations where readers are anxious to know something NOW, and then making them wait by switching to another character's point of view.

Thanks, Jack!

[carole gill]

excellent Jon! and by the way, I solved my pov problem. I'm a third into my novel and I love it!

[carole gill]

Half into my first draft now!

[GWPickle]

I'm new here and have only been writing novels for just over 5 years.. You have an interesting topic. I'm presently working on 5 novels, each is in a different genre. One is a murder mystery with elements of suspense. I just wanted to thank you for this thread. This should prove to be very helpful.
G W Pickle