@verosthewriter.bsky.social#Sustember
I describe a lot of my characters' internal sensations to bring the reader into their experience - muscle tension, hyperawareness of their surroundings, pounding heart, sick stomach, etc. - to show how painfully aware they are of danger.
@trishcwilson.bsky.social#Sustember Sept 9: I use all the senses esp. the lesser used ones like smell and taste. An editor once told me not many people go beyond sight & sound. I also speed up the pace using shorter sentences. Unreliable narrators are fun to work with since there's no telling what they actually experience.
@maximejaz.bsky.social#Sustember
I write down as closely as possible the movies I see in my head, but I'm not just an external observer, I'm fully immersed with all senses working and I'm in the characters, the scene... it's very intense. I have no clue what words I choose. When I'm in the zone, headphones and music on
@justsomephil.bsky.social#Sustember I focus on the little actions. The mundane acts. Trinkets in the room. The weather. Small talk. Everything that's usually unremarkable and unimportant suddenly matters so much when everything is upside down and death around the corner.
@melwaverly.bsky.social#Sustember Day 9
A lot of my tension is built up in things I don't say/show.
Given my genre & style, delayed gratification is my bread & butter.
I use POV switches in all three WIPs for this. Drawing out a moment of reveal by showing everything leading up to it from "different angles" so to speak
@zprospero.bsky.socialRepetition often. Leitmotifs don't have to be music. Heat. Quiet. Falling sand. Petrichor. Cinnamon.
My favorite "jump scare" is to subvert an assumption.
In "Hell Is Work," when God finally speaks it's in narration. Not dialogue. And Virgil HEARS it.
@lockheartfiction.bsky.socialI go interoception. What is the body telling the character?
I often use descriptions of not just the chest and stomach but the spine and shoulders. There is also a numbing or sudden lack of feeling.
Sometimes, I add a change in sensory experience: blurred vision, muffled sounds, etc.
@eliwoodsgheist.bsky.socialHappy #Sustember 9!
This is a fun question! I unconsciously do this, but hadn't realized it before now!
When I'm trying to build suspense, I want to introduce sensory details that are *not* sight - a strange sound, an off smell. But you won't *see* the scary thing.
@vampireantihero.comMy #Sustember answer today — I like keeping the senses locked on one thing at a time, forcing the reader to slow down and experience it with the character. Repetition is great for suspense that comes from realizing something.
Here for example, the sense is their hearing, juxtaposed with chaos.
@cjmann3.bsky.socialIn QUEEN FOR A DAY, I Like to narrow the sensory field: breath, heartbeat, wet stone, candle smoke, a sound that should be there but isn’t. I also tighten the sentences as the danger closes in.
@vampireantihero.com#Sustember Day 9 | Let's dial a little bit more into the technical aspects of suspense!
What do you describe to keep the suspense up for the reader? How do you utilize the senses? Do you use repetition or stylistic choices?
Let's talk about it!
@amber-hathaway.bsky.socialI love horror suspense. Mystery suspense is great too. I love a romantic subplot as well, but it depends on where the tension is coming from. Forbidden romance or if the characters are just too shy/awkward to admit their feelings are great, but I don't want the relationship to be tense.
@elwolfsblood.bsky.social#Sustember 9!
I really like creepypastas. The lingering suspense that writers of creepypasta often leave the story dangling on is unsettling in the best way.
@jmweaverauthor.bsky.socialHorror, for sure. The dread of what might happen next. Where the monster or killer might be hiding, the sense of zero safety and constant tension. The more oppressive the vibe of a horror novel, the more I vibe with it.
@lockheartfiction.bsky.socialMysteries are fun, but so are stories where the reader knows what happened and watches the characters scramble to catch up. It's like being in on the author's joke.
@trishcwilson.bsky.social#Sustember Sept 8
I like horror which makes sense since I write it. 😺 My favorite suspense is quiet horror - atmospheric, creepy, full of dread & free-floating anxiety. Think THE HAUNTING, HELL HOUSE & THE ELEMENTALS. Not much if any gore. While I like gore, it's not my fave. Give me dread any day!