The terms suspense and tension get easily confused, because though they are related and they require the same ingredients, questions, anticipation, concern, curiosity, there is an important distinction. Suspense is a state of unknowing. I am in suspense because I want to know what will happen or what already happened. When you hear the term suspense, think, eagerly awaiting the answer. Now tension is the feeling that I have while I'm in suspense. And tension can be good or bad, but it's uncomfortable until it's relieved. Welcome to the Write It Scared podcast. I'm your host, Stacy Fraser, a formally repressed creative soul, turned fiction writer, story editor, and author accelerator certified fiction book coach. At Write It Scared, we tell the truth about why writing a novel is so hard by acknowledging that most writers grapple with two stories. The one they want to put on the page to the best of their ability, and the often subconscious internal story that prevents them from doing it. This show is designed to help you identify and rewrite the internal narrative holding you back while you discover and write the story you want to tell and learn all the tools to help you do that successfully. Join me each week for a new episode where we'll talk about writing to deepen our understanding of the craft and of ourselves as writers. Writing a novel is an inside job that we do not do alone. Welcome to Reddit Scared. I'm glad you're here. Let's dive in. Hi, writer. Welcome back to another episode of the Reddit Scared Podcast. I'm your host, Stacey. Today is a solo show, and we are going to talk some craft. We're going to talk about how to wield suspense and tension in your novel. The reason this topic came about is because I was giving feedback on one of my clients' submissions and found myself jotting down notes about where and how they could add more tension and elevate suspense. And the reason I was writing down these notes was because I couldn't feel anything from the scene. Yeah, there was some conflict, but there wasn't enough there for me to become invested in the outcome of the character. I didn't have any sense of anticipation or curiosity. I wasn't questioning what was going to happen. And that is a problem. Bottom line, as a reader, I didn't care. Now, as this writer's book coach, I care. I care a whole damn lot. So I'll walk you through what my client and I reviewed on our follow-up coaching call together. Remember, story is essentially one great big change to a character, a cast of characters, a world, or a situation. We start the story at one point and we end at another. And as writers, we are beaten to death with the idea that something must change. So we change things, but maybe not the right things. For example, say you introduce your character walking down a quiet street, minding their own business, enjoying the day's beauty, and suddenly there's an explosion. It's chaos. Screams rip through the air, bodies and blood fly. Our character is choking on the caustic smoke while the other survivors run blind and search for shelter. See, that's a change, right? And it's dramatic too. But do we care? No, not really. What makes us care about a change in a story is when we are invested in the character or the situation, and then we are put into a state of suspense about what is going to happen to them. Tension is a tool that writers use to create suspense by triggering an emotional reaction from the reader. Now, tension is driven by emotion and triggered by anticipation, concern, and curiosity. So when you hear the term tension, think feelings. But keep in mind suspense keeps readers reading and makes them care long term. No matter the genre, great stories are built on suspense fueled by tension. And if you don't have tension or suspense, you don't have a story. So let's look at suspense and tension and see how they work together. The state of suspense stems from unanswered story questions the reader wants answers to because they're curious or concerned. You made them care about a person, place, or event and brought in meaningful conflict. And now the reader needs to keep reading to see how it's going to turn out. So there are two types of suspense. There's long-term suspense and short-term suspense. Long-term suspense means that we're gonna wait a long time to discover the answer. This type of suspense is usually linked to an overarching, global, or dramatic story question, whatever you want to call it. But it's the big idea behind the book. For example, will Katniss Everdeen survive the Hunger Games? Will Frodo destroy the ring before it corrupts him? Will Bridget Jones ever find love? Will Shrek get his schwamp back? Will Sherlock solve this mystery? Will Harry Potter fall victim to Thou Who Shall Not Be Named? These questions fuel the plot and are driven by the story's central conflict. Notice these big dramatic questions are often revealed early in the story, but we don't get the answer till the end of the book. Now, short-term suspense is the immediate questions that pop up as we read related to the characters and the situational conflict they face within each scene. Each answer to these short-term suspense questions will bring us closer to resolving the story's overarching problem. Okay, so let's break this down with an example where we can look at how short-term and long-term suspense work together to keep our reader reading. And spoiler alert, we're going to look at the Hunger Games. So the short-term suspense question for the first chapter in the Hunger Games is who will be chosen during the reaping? We get our answer from the last sentence of chapter one. It's not our protagonist. But from Katniss' point of view, the worst possible outcome has occurred. The thing she never expected, but always knew was a possibility, happened. Her delicate and innocent little sister Prim was chosen as tribute. The short-term suspense is over for that particular story question. But not for the entire story, not by a long shot. Why? Because a long-term suspense question had already been introduced. Will someone we care for die in the Hunger Games? And the tension is created from the buildup in the chapter, especially with the hammer drop moment at the end announcing Katniss's sister as the tribute. Instantly we have more short-term suspense questions. What will Katniss do? What's going to happen next? Okay, now, so we that was suspense. Now let's talk tension. Remember, tension means feelings. So even though the state of the short-term suspense ended because our question was answered: who's going to be chosen for tribute? The tension, how I feel about it, continues to be really high because I know how much her little sister means to Katniss. And I know that being chosen as tribute is a death sentence. So I'm afraid for Prim. And I am desperate to know what Katniss is going to do. That is suspense and tension woven together beautifully to create a page turner. So, how did the author, Susan Collins, set up the suspense and use the tension to fuel it throughout the first chapter? Well, let's use my favorite tool. And you can probably guess what that is. Yes, it's dissection. So the first paragraph of the book makes us ask a question: What is the reaping and why is it so ominous? We are officially in suspense, but now we need to care about the character immediately. And the author instantly accomplishes this by showing us who Katniss is, the person her family depends on. The rest of the first chapter weaves us through this pivotal day in Katniss Everdeen's life. And through a combination of exposition, dialogue, and action, we learn what Katniss cares about and why. We also learn about her wounds and her worldview, the obstacles she faces and the stakes, leading us up to the event where that we have been waiting to see, the reaping itself. So the author didn't just dump this info on us. I mean, Collins could have said, Today is the reaping of the Hunger Games where two kids from our district are chosen to fight to the death against children from other districts in a publicly televised event to remind us never to rebel against the Capitol. But she didn't do that. No, she set up the suspense by introducing a story question and then instantly gave us a character we can care about. Then she delivered micro questions and answers throughout the first chapter, which produced tension and more suspense. So we become acutely aware of the stakes and how personal they are for our protagonist. In short, the combination of suspense and tension makes us invest. We want to know what's going to happen. So here are the tools of tension and suspense and how to wield them. Suspense and tension do use the same ingredients anticipation, curiosity, questions, and concern. Suspense is created by making us care about a character, event, or situation, and then putting them in a difficult situation where we'll wonder what's going to happen. We will read on in anticipation of the answer, we want to know what's going to happen. Questions, curiosity, concern, and anticipation drive suspense. Tension is fueled by anticipating a situation, good or bad, wondering what will happen, and understanding how the character feels about it and the potential outcomes. If you struggle to understand how tension can be good, consider the last sex scene you read. Tension is created through the flirting, the one-step forward, two steps back dance of the lovers, the kissing and the foreplay, and it's relieved by the intimate event itself. So back to the tools on wielding. Here's what you can do in your own writing. Think of how you can make your reader ask questions to create short-term and long-term suspense and then reward your reader with the answers. Make the information they learn build on itself to develop the full picture of the conflict. Plant the long-term suspense questions early in the story. Put the character's internal struggle on the page. Create meaningful external conflicts related to the story's central problem. Have the character make difficult decisions and show the cost of those choices. Show the global story stakes and the scene stakes and build them up. Insert ticking clocks, use cliffhangers, make things bad, then make them worse for your character situationally and emotionally. Now try doing some dissection yourself to better understand how to wield suspense and tension. Take any book. But if you want a deep dive into creating ominous suspense that continuously increases intention, look at chapter one of the Hunger Games because it is a masterwork in suspense and tension building. Pay attention each time the author makes you ask a question. Then see when they deliver the answer. When the information is revealed, gauge how you feel about it. Do you find you are growing increasingly uncomfortable as the chapter progresses? That is done on purpose. You are anticipating something bad and hoping it doesn't. Now, go forth and practice wielding tension and suspense in your work. If you have any questions, reach out to me at my email, Stacy at writeitscared.co. If you are interested in learning more about the book coaching services that I offer for writers, please check out my website, writeitscared.co, and I will see you next week. Thank you for listening to the Right It's Scared podcast. If you enjoyed today's show, please make sure to hit the follow button so you never miss an episode. And please leave a review. Reviews help other writers like you find the voices and messages they need to hear to continue to write their stories. Let's lift each other up. Remember, you can be scared and still be unstoppable. I'll see you next week.