feed your characters / readers a steady diet of... cues that begin to add up to some conclusion... But the pieces don’t quite add up—so the reader must continue on. You keep your reader guessing.
I think one of the most important transitions a writer makes is when they stop relying on the idea to prop up the story and start thinking about how the story reads as {a whole}... In fact, most writers don’t get that far, and you can tell that their fiction is all a lead-up to the reveal of the end, or in support of a strong moment that isn’t actually a whole story.
Desire + Conflict = Dramahttp://www.danacameron.com/for-writers.html
Suspense is generated by the reader caring about what happens next.
when you’re looking for an opportunity to create surprise in your plot, ask yourself, “What couldn’t possibly happen?” In other words, stretch your imagination... you’ll probably come up with some surprising directions for your story.
When... critical information is woven into the story in a way that feels like it’s doing something else in the story, readers, in general, both miss it and remember it when you reveal that it was actually important. If you just mention it without it appearing to do something important, readers wonder why it’s included and are more likely to remember it.http://www.aisteach.com/blog/?p=1127
What makes the revelation so effective is not that we’ve been waiting for it, but that we never actually suspected it was there to begin with (although of course it was carefully set up for us from nearly the beginning of the film*).http://www.annleckie.com/2013/09/05/basis-suspense/
AS AN AUDIENCE MEMBER WE HAVE A PROBLEM IN THAT WE HAVE BASE WANTS AND YET ALSO HAVE GREATER INTELLECTUAL NEEDS. SURE, WE WANT HEROES TO SUCCEED AND BE REWARDED AND ALSO WANT THE WICKED TO BE PUNISHED. WE WANT THESE THINGS BECAUSE THE AVERAGE MOVIEGOER IS SO READY TO PLACE THEMSELVES IN THE PLACE OF THE MAIN CHARACTER. SO READY TO EMPATHIZE AND SEE THROUGH THAT PERSPECTIVE. AND AS PART OF THAT, WE INSTINCTIVELY DEMAND THAT EVERYTHING FALLS IN LINE PERFECTLY WITH THE SUBCONSCIOUSLY INGRAINED EXPECTATIONS OF "HOW STORIES WORK." NOW, SOME PEOPLE MISTAKE THOSE EXPECTATIONS FOR THE CONVENTIONS OF THE THREE ACT STRUCTURE (WHICH DOESN'T EXIST) OR A HOST OF DUMB RULES, BUT IT'S MORE THE SUBCONSCIOUS RULES OF CAUSE AND EFFECT. THERE'S A RHYTHM AND INHERENT TRUTH TO THINGS AND WHEN A MOVIE VIOLATES THAT UNSPOKEN CODE OF ETHICS WE REVOLT
Plot is simply the actions the characters take, the results of their action, and what they decide to do next. Except this can’t be any old action and result. It has to be action and result that builds the anxiety of suspense, surprise, and the mystery or puzzle...
There are four possible answers to the question of “did the hero’s action solve the problem?”: yes, no, yes but, no furthermore.
For example. Yes, you killed the monster. No, you didn’t. Yes, you killed the monster, but it bit you and now you have the virus that’s going to turn YOU into a monster. No, you didn’t kill the monster furthermore you woke up its mumma.
Of those four possiblities, only the last two build suspense and curiosity. The first removes it totally. So it’s out{ except at the end}. And a no answer leaves suspense unchanged. All you’re doing is delaying things with that. What you want to do is ratchet it up.
