We came up with six ways to increase tension:
1. Fool the reader about the character’s consciousness state: Dreaming vs. reality.
2. Have the character wonder about another character’s desires and fear them.
3. Give access to the character’s worried thoughts and doubts over a secret.
4. Describe the character’s physical manifestations of worry.
5. Show the character make an assumption that the reader could see might be wrong.
6. Add in adverbs and adjectives used by professional writers in an effective suspense scene.
I used #s 2, 3, and 4 for a scene in Ch. 2, House of Cuts, that really kicked up the tension! Onward to prepare for next week's Novel Writer's Workshop in Moke Hill.
Great to see such a lot of Comments *:)
junebug...
