For some reason this didn’t post last week – sorry for keeping you all in suspense!

Last week, e talked about the Big Event in writing a suspense, and how you must have this hovering over the story as you draw closer to the climax.  The reader must believe that something terrible will happen if the hero/heroine don’t save the day, otherwise, there is nothing “suspenseful” to worry about. 

Think of it like a football game – if the team won’t lose, there is nothing at stake.  There has to be a believable threat of a disaster, or a loss.

Let’s take a closer look at the Big Event. Whether the event that is/will happen is caused by an elements or a villain –  needs to have four components.  Today, we’ll start with the first…Believability.

(a note about “elements” – sometimes the suspense is an action adventure story, and it’s beating a volcano (Dante’s Peak) or some other natural or man-made element – like The Perfect Storm.)

The Event must be Believable.  You can accomplish this by showing a similar or like event happening in the beginning of the book, or a small glimpse of what COULD happen if things go awry.  For example, in the movie Dante’s Peak the movie starts out with a scene of a volcano erupting, and the  death of the hero’s girlfriend.  Thus, we know that indeed, he has not only experienced loss, but it was at the “hands” of a volcano. 

In one of my favorite Romantic Suspense movies, Bird on a Wire, the believability of danger is established when we see the villain getting out of jail. His first act is to ask where the hero is. By his demeanor and attire, we know he’s a bad dude and it’s clear he’s done time for a previous conviction and hasn’t changed his ways.   Not only that, but shortly into the movie, he attacks the hero and blows up the garage where the hero is hiding out, and kills his boss. 

In Eagle Eye, which we’ve been studying at MBT during the chats, the believability of the threat is established first when the phone call warning the hero that he will be arrested comes true, and then when he receives another call that results in him needing to escape custody.  We understand “the voice” has the power to control Jerry Shaw’s life  (and even take others, should they decide to rebel). 

How have I established believability in my novels?

In Flee the Night, I had the villain derail the train in the first chapter.

In Escape to Morning, I open with my hero having just been beaten up and left for dead by the villains.

In Expect the Sunrise, I have a terrorist shoot the brother of the hero while out in the Alaskan Wilderness. 

In Point of No Return, I have the evil warlord burn the village.

In Mission: Out of Control, I have the heroine’s contact murdered before her eyes.

In Undercover Pursuit, I leave the bloody carcass of a shark outside the heroine’s cabin.

If I were writing a football book, I’d have the team lose a previous game…Or perhaps have an undefeated team lose, to show that our team could go down, hard. 

Make us believe the threat is real. That the literary agent really could miss her plane.  J

Next week we’ll talk about the other three elements of the Big Event.

Susie May….who spent last Sunday night hanging out with Sandra Bishop waiting for the next flight out of town…