Q: My most vexing issue is figuring out how to tighten the noose (build the suspense) toward the end of the novel leading up to the climax scene.

A: Don’t you just love movies where you’re on the edge of your seat, eyes glued to the screen, thinking, how could this get any worse? We think of classics like Die Hard, and Hunt for Red October, and Frequency, and one of my newest favorites, the Cell. But really, all dramas, and even comedies operate on this principle. Of course, instead of risking the life of a character, a comedy risks their reputation and status quo. Still, the structure is similar…each situation brings the character further and further from their goal. Some of my favorite television shows (and most stressful!) are old I Love Lucy episodes. I’ve been known to watch them with one eye closed as I can’t bear to see her situation worsen!

Same concept rings true for writing a thriller. At the onset of the book, your hero/heroine has a goal. However, their world is rocked by an incident, and suddenly they’re given a choice: react or live with the consequences. Either way, the choice they make should lead them further from their overall goal, and should also lead them to another choice. The key is to make each choice more difficult. How to make it more stressful is often the problem we thriller writers run up against.

Here’s some ideas.
1. Ask: What could be the worst thing that could happen to my character in this scene? Don’t limit this question to only plot, but also emotionally, or spiritually. What would they dread, right now, given the situation they are in?
2. Ask: What do they care about more than anything in the world? Their family, their career, their reputation? Do a flanking move, and attack that. Although it might not be directly linked to the plot, it will add stress, both for your character and the reader.
3. Ask: What could you throw into the mix to make his/her task more difficult? Ie, other players and their choices? Environment? Physical ability? Maybe even “gadgets” from cell phones dying to modes of transportation disappearing.

The key to crafting an edge-of-your-seat thriller is to keep raising the tension, by making your hero’s journey more and more difficult, more emotionally stressful, and creatively tightening the screws in every area of their life until the reader screams, “just tell me if he’s going to live!” *grin*

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