Thread suspense into the story

 

Thread suspense into the story

How does an author keep the reader interested?

A surefire way is to add the element of suspense. When incorporated into the story, this provides a payback to readers who have trusted you with their precious time.

The simplest definition of suspense is not knowing what will happen. For this, there needs to be a character the reader can emphasize with. Without reader empathy, adding an obstacle or visible peril won’t have pages turned.

If the reader cares, the creation of suspense requires the dilemma to linger before resolution. Let’s look at an example.

A bookstore browser enthusiastic for historical fiction is introduced to a 19th Century female coming of age. She has attractive attributes but fears a family history of sterility will damn her to spinsterhood. She meets the male heir to a stable of pedigree, prize-winning racehorses. He expresses a desire to raise a family.

Our heroine reluctantly explains to him that, if he should marry her, the odds of his attaining his goal is not guaranteed.

They nevertheless marry.

After two years, she’s still unable to conceive.

They adopt a young baby boy abandoned by a traveling gypsy caravan. Happy, the couple is heartbroken when authorities identify the boy as kidnapped, and the boy’s real father appears.

In secret, the heroine learns of an experimental method to be impregnated, and she volunteers to be a medical test case. When she becomes of child, she tells her husband. They are overjoyed to wait.

Within a month, the heroine miscarries.

For a second time, dread descends upon the heroine for life’s uncertainty has dealt her and her husband unexpected blows.

Will the reader keep on reading? The ending has not yet come. Will it be tragedy or success?

As the author, you know. And, by threading suspense of what the unexplained, but believable outcome, lies on upcoming pages will create a great incentive to keep the reader along in lockstep to complete the journey.

Three dimensional character

 Ever read a thriller with never-ending action and conflict?

Of course you have, or one day started one, now collecting dust.

The problem is exhaustion. The character failed to breathe unless

gasping for lifesaving oxygen.

Here's a writing tip.

Think three dimensional.  The character has a past, present, and future.

In each dimension the character has internal conflicts, external conflicts,

goals, and motivations. While they can be the same, odds are they are

not. The simple explanation is that characters as well as humans mature,

learn life lessons, fail, and a myriad of other things.

Saying this is seeing the tip of the iceberg. Explore every detail to broaden

your character. You'll be glad you did.

                            Self-serving note

Multiple e-books by Author Donan Berg will be on sale starting July 1, 2023.

It's limited. There's romance, mystery, thriller, and fantasy.

A good novel to start with is A Body To Bones.

Go to:  Click here for A Body To Bones

A wish doesn't necessary happen

Any metric for measuring a writer's success is subject to many variables.

Selling books is an obvious.

That's why, I speculate, that AuthorsDen.com says "sell more books" to invite authors to purchase a membership. Obviously, they consulted lawyers to try not to create a legally recognized promise that an author who purchases a membership will sell "more books."

The subtle intent should be obvious. An author who joins a website wishes any offered payment will result in an upward increment in book sales.

Not always so.

AuthorsDen does not offer "testimonials." Perhaps that should be a signal to all who see joining them with cash will not result in an uptick in book sales.

The second part of incentive is that AuthorsDen will always say it was not their fault, but the author. Question? Then why do they accept the money.

The third part of the incentive for AuthorsDen is that it will rely upon authors not to broadcast any anemic sales because that pierces the author's façade of success.

This scenario was graciously hinted at in a 2014 Internet blog.

I have no inclination to shrink from the truth.  

My latest novel, Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel, has been the "most popular" novel on AuthorsDen for the past one hundred and thirty (130) days.

Best I can tell, AuthorsDen has been responsible for zero (yes, 0) book sales. Is that "more," obviously not.

If you're an author, you may want to take my experience into consideration for any marketing decision you make.

Could you say, my novel, Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel, was bad fantasy. I'd say, no.

And, I'm supported by the July Literary Titan Gold Award.

If you wish to test me, visit www.amazon.com for Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel, and read a sample.  Visit www.smashwords.com/books/view/1059934 and read a sample that extends to Chapter Four.

Donan Berg Novels Lead Popular List

 A fellow author once said, the best marker of your writing ability is the length of time your novels remain popular with readers and other authors.

With that in mind, I recorded on May 12, 2021, what novels of mine were listed as most popular at www.authorsden.com. Then, today, July 28, 2021, I checked to see what novels topped their most popular rankings. (Novels are ranked in order starting with number one.) This exercise is not strictly scientific, but here are the results for Donan Berg novels only:

May 12, 2021:

Top Fantasy                    Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel

Top Action/Thriller        Aria's Bayou Child

Top Mystery/Suspense  Into the Dark

Top Romance                Alexa's Gold

                                      Abbey Burning Love  

July 28, 2021:

Top Fantasy                    Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel

Top Action/Thriller        Aria's Bayou Child

Top Mystery/Suspense    Into the Dark

                                        Adolph's Gold

                                        Baby Bones

                                        A Body To Bones

                                        The Bones Dance Foxtrot

Top Romance                  One Paper Heart

                                        Abbey Burning Love

                                        Alexa's Gold

As an end note, Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel, became the top popular novel of all genres on April 16, 2021 and has remained there, that's 115 consecutive days.

Thank you all for your purchase, reading and support. If you click the below link you'll find sample chapters of all Donan Berg novels, plus writing tips, articles and short stories.

Click here to begin your own survey of  Donan Berg Novels.

 

Let the first sentence grab you

 All praise is not homegrown.

Readers, and especially critics, are blown away by a novel's first sentence.

There are classics. Think Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. 

I ran across an introductory sentence today that impressed me so much I had to share.

In Last Light by J.N. Bake, the opening sentence reads as follows:

"Hell. As I pried my sword from his life-less body, I was sure that's where I'd be going;

that was, if I could actually die."

Doesn't that tell you a lot, yet still draw you in?  It did me. A fantasy? Or, a delusional killer?

Why chose?  You must read on.  I haven't read the entire novel, but I'm intrigued.

I went back to look at my own novels. (Proud to say that the last two have had gold medals bestowed upon them. The first a most popular www.authorsden.com novel for 93 consecutive days.)

Alexa's Gold starts with:  "'Rich men don't date exhausted women.'" Grandma's oft-repeated admonition ebbed into the minutiae of Alexa Hovey's grief."

Find the Girl, A Fantasy Novel starts with:  "Eta Dorcas pressed four fingertips into her right palm's flesh. She feared, if she looked, it could still be there."

One Paper Heart starts with: "The romantic flames of Alicia Danielson's sweet dreams flared into conscious panic."

Different genres please readers in multiple ways. For the author to gain that praise requires the reader to do one thing, i.e., read on with a sense of what comes next. That is, a fantasy, a romance, or a thriller with romantic elements.

It presents a tall order for the author. All readers may not have a critical vision when opening a novel, but below the surface there's an attraction. It benefits the author and the reader.   

Mystery versus Suspense. A writing Tip.

 Mystery versus suspense.

 Let’s differentiate the two in simple terms.

 Mystery concerns the past. There’s a body. Whodunit? This is a prime mystery example.

Suspense, on the other hand, concerns the future. What will happen? Who will be hurt?

 Your major character is about to lift a lid on a box.

 Is this mystery? Yes, if the box contains a clue.

Is this suspense? Yes, if the box has a poisonous snake ready to bite. But, and here’s the crucial point about suspense, the character must have an inkling a peril lurks.

How does that happen? Well, the writer could say the character faces death. But come on. That’s sophomoric, at best. There needs to be a build-up. The character’s boss may deal in poisonous snakes and this box returned from Egypt when the boss did. While the box may not say a poisonous snake is enclosed, perhaps the stamp of A.S.P. Co could be a foreshadowing? Maybe if the boss returned from the western USA, the character hears a rattle inside the box.

 The point for writers is: even if the character does not suspect to be hurt, the reader must be aware of potential adverse consequences for suspense to be created.

The reader must envision the possibilities. If the hero stands on the edge of a cliff, there’s no significant possibility he may fall, even die. If the hero stands there and a villain rushes towards him, the reader can assume the villain may push the hero. And, if that happens? The hero is in danger.

 As it has not yet happened, suspense can build. Add in a few other details, like the villain’s shout “you’ve breathed your last” or the hero’s foot slipping on a loose rock that cascades to the canyon floor below and there’s suspense.

 If you skip all that and a park ranger comes across a dead body on the floor of the canyon, well, we’re now dealing with mystery.

 Choose your approach. Yes, an unidentified villain can cause suspense by creating the death of a hapless individual and allow the story to migrate into a mystery.

This is a conscious choice. An author may choose. Yet, mystery and suspense live separate lives.

Visit Author Donan Berg at Award winning books .

Writing tip : Ask yourself why?

 Multiple writers send out samples of their work and ask for comment. The writer expects compliments. Yet, criticism is received. This can be both good and bad. The focus for you, the writer, must be:

What are you asking for?

Is it to improve your writing? 

While writers may hope all feedback helps them improve, honest readers know they walk on eggshells when they express what they see as faults in the written word they have read. Readers assume you, the writer only want praise. And, loads of it.

This presents a conundrum. Bad prose will result in fewer sales. This inflicts greater sadness to the writer after the lack of praise.

For me the analogy is like Brussel sprouts.  I like them. Majority don't. Should I say so if thus predict the answer to be received will be a negative? Probably not. Should it be so for writing?  I think not.

So, you're the writer. How do you approach this?

Consider that the reason you're asking for honest feedback is that you're still learning to be a successful writer. Ask any bronco rider: Do you expect to get tossed to the arena dirt? The answer: yes.

As a writer, do you expect to be loved by every reader?  

If the bronco rider learns with every ride, shouldn't the writer learn by every critique?

The answer: yes.

Does pride blunt the learning experience? Yes, but only if you let it.

Take every reader response in stride. Weigh it. If a reader can find fault with you as a writer, why can't you as a writer find fault with the reader. Yes, you can. But, be objective. 

Be in control of what you write. If your words have unintended consequences, learn to be more precise. If your words strike a chord, but less than you expected, amplify with a sharper focus.

It's the interchange between writer and reader that strikes a harmonious chord.

Only by interacting can the writer find the common niche. The writer's and the reader's world, as expressed by the word, is enriching and better if in sync.

Writing Tip: Not Your Protagonist

 Writing tip.

There are a multitude of protagonists. Those that should not grace your story are

the following:

    1. The incompetent.

    2. The passive.

    3.  The over thinker.

The hero or heroine must not only do things, but must drive the story's plot. The above three types of hero or heroine are failures. 

How can a good mystery be solved if the protagonist has no detecting skill? He or she can't.

How can a story be entertaining if the protagonist sits in the audience waiting for the action on stage when he or she should be the lead actor on the stage reciting witty lines, tapping out innovative dance steps or pouring out a wheelbarrow full of emotion.

How can a good story be only in one's head. Yes, a hero or heroine can dream, or plot out their next actions, but the energy rays are ignited by outward actions, not small electrical impulses only alive within the protagonist's skull.

Measure the story you're writing or reading against the above. There's a trust you'll enjoy yourself more if you find the kernel and discard the chaff.