There exists more than one factor
to writing interesting fiction.
Fiction leans toward the imaginary,
invented, made-up, and inspired. Of
course, writers want to entertain, and
invoke the reader’s emotions. Hopefully,
the reader becomes involved, and puts
the story down after the last page has
been read.

A key to writing fiction well, in my
opinion, is plenty of suspense.

Suspense is indecision, doubt,
knowing something is going to
happen, awaiting, and anxiety.

It doesn’t matter if you’re writing
a mystery, romance, or science
fiction. Suspense pulls the reader
in. Begin suspense with paragraph
one.

Start the story in the middle of a crisis,
problem. This is where the reader’s
attention is grabbed. He/she has
something to be concerned about,
wants to know how a character(s) will
resolve the issue. Perhaps, the reader
identifies with a character, knows
someone in a similar situation, is
cheering for the protagonist, and/or is
gripped by the plot.

Plot is the problem in the story, and
how it unfolds.

The pages of a story should have
something new, exciting, or, even,
a threat of an approaching doom.

“Do you ever pause?” Someone
asked.

Yes, there are brief pauses. The
idea is to keep the reader buried
in suspense.

Take a look at my example.

I opened the front door, heard my
cousin arguing.

“Pete!” I shouted. “What’s goin’ on?”

“Call…” He fell on the cement steps
before finishing.

The strange man started toward me…

************************************************

How would you have started the first
sentence? Could it be laced with more
suspense? Would you continue to read
the story?

In short fiction, there’s a concern for
space, word count. Publishers adhere
to a specific number of words, and so
should you.

One problem is enough for short fiction.
In longer fiction, more than one issue is
addressed.

Each word earns its place. Every,
suspenseful, word should move the story
forward, not just take up space. Words
holding up valuable space must be
deleted.

It’s been my practice to keep cut lines,
paragraphs. They can be re-worked,
placed somewhere else, spark a new
idea, and used as a tool against writer’s
block.

The more you write, the easier it will be
to include that major factor, suspense.

Take a look at the following.

“‘Member our dare?” Barb asked.

“Don’t think it’s a good idea.” Tish
dropped her head.

“Ya shoulda thought ’bout that before
sayin’ crap ’bout bein’ as tough as me.”

“Was a joke.”

“Be there, or…”

“You’ll harass me?” Tish interrupted
Barb.

“Tell everyone ya’re a punk.

“I’ll be there.”
****************************************************

Do you get the feeling the dare isn’t
something positive, upbeat? Could be
dangerous? Are you curious about it?
Are you pulled in the story?

Fiction is written well when its smeared
with suspense, on practically every page.
A grammatically correct story is boring
without suspense. Suspense is the, must
include, factor a story can’t do without.

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