Skills: Suspense

Inventing Characters Read! Journal Word Notebook

Choosing Titles The Fab Four Golden Rules Generating Ideas Stealing Ideas From an Idea to a Plan Planning from a Picture Stories Based on a Passage Stories Based on a Sentence An Example of Good Planning

Describing a Location Longer descriptions Describing a character's appearance Dialogue Distinctive Voices Show, Don't Tell Characterisation: Shown Feelings More Characterisation Techniques Playing with Sentences Playscripts Action Suspense

What is story structure? 1 Exciting opening line 2 Set the scene 3 Talking and describing character 4 Characterisation 5 Suspense 6 Action 7 Cliffhanger Standing Out: How can you stand out from the crowd? Clever Clogs: Non-Linear Clever-clogs: Two perspectives Clever-clogs: Narrative voice Practice 11+ exam titles

Checking your story in an exam Redrafting = improving your story What if I run out of time in an exam? The Grumpy Examiner's Pet Hates

Year 2 into 3 Lemony Snicket After Harry Potter Must-Read Authors Spy Novels Horror Stories Classics Animal Stories Adventure Historical Fiction Myths & Legends Fantasy Family Stories & Comedies

‘Suspense’ is that feeling you get when you’re watching Dr. Who and you think the Daleks are about to jump out and exterminate Captain Jack. Think about what tricks the programme makers use to make you scared:

Scary music (often violins scrapping away with increasing urgency)
Darkness
Wobbling the camera
Having Captain Jack breathe a little more quickly

You can make your readers feel scared. The only difference is that you have to use words, rather than sounds and pictures. Suspense makes your reader become emotionally involved in the story, as in this example by Paige, a girl I taught at my first school:

Use the following suspense techniques to scare your readers:

Impact sentences (3-4 word sentences)
Using dashes
Scary sounds
Suspicious movements in the shadows
Mentioning how dark and cold it is
Asking questions, e.g. "Was I alone?"
Talk about the character sweating
Talk about the character’s heart
Have the character call out, and tell themselves that there is nothing to worry about.

Read the following suspense passage. Where has the writer, a boy in Year Six, used Bald Worm’s suspense techniques to make you feel worried that his character is going to meet a sticky end?

Try not to reveal what or who is chasing your character until the very end of the story. It is much scarier when your reader is in the same position as the character, and doesn’t know what is coming!

Write two of the following suspense scenes. Aim to write ten lines for each scene, and try to include all of our suspense skills.

Write about a WW2 solider hiding in the undergrowth, waiting for Nazis to attack.

Imagine a mouse hiding in some long grass, trying to sneak back to his hole before the cat sees him.

Last updated on August 14, 2007