How to Write Suspense and Tension in Your Novel to Keep Readers Hooked
Suspense and tension: You can’t have one without the other, and if you have neither, you don’t have a story.
I was giving feedback on a client's submission last week and found myself jotting down notes about where and how they could add more tension and elevate suspense.
Why?
Because I couldn't feel anything from the scene; there was conflict, but not enough for me to invest in the outcome. I didn't have a sense of anticipation or curiosity. I wasn't questioning what was going to happen.
And that’s a problem.
Bottom line: As a reader, I didn't care. Now, as this writer's book coach, I care. I care a whole damn lot. So, I'll walk you through what my client and I reviewed on our follow-up coaching call together.
A story is essentially one great big change: to a character, cast of characters, a world, or a situation. We begin the story at one point and end at another. And as writers, we are beaten to death with the SOMETHING MUST CHANGE idea.
So, we change things, but maybe not the right things.
For example, say you introduce your character walking down a quiet street—minding their own business, enjoying the day's beauty—and suddenly there’s an explosion.
It's chaos. Screams rip through the air, bodies and blood fly. Our character is choking on the caustic smoke while other survivors run blind, searching for shelter.
See, that's change, right? And it's damn dramatic, too!
Yes, but do we care?
Not really.
What makes us care about a change in a story is being invested in the character or situation, and then being put into suspense about what will happen to them.
Tension is a tool writers use to create suspense by triggering an emotional reaction from the reader.
Suspense and tension are terms that get easily confused, so let's break them down because though they’re related and require the same ingredients—questions, anticipation, concern, and curiosity—there’s an important distinction.
Suspense is a state of unknowing. I'm in suspense because I want to know what will happen or what already happened. Story questions and anticipation for what happens next drive the suspense. When you hear the term suspense, think eagerly awaiting an answer.
Tension is the feeling I have while in suspense. It could be good or bad, but it's uncomfortable until it's relieved. Tension is driven by emotion and triggered by anticipation, concern, and curiosity. When you hear the term tension, think feelings.
Suspense keeps readers reading and makes them care long-term.
No matter the genre, great stories are built on suspense fueled by tension. If you don't have either, you don't have a story.
How Suspense and Tension work together:
The state of suspense stems from unanswered story questions the reader wants the answers to because they’re curious.
You made them care about the person, place, or event and brought in meaningful conflict (you can read more on crafting meaningful conflict here), and now we need to read on to see how it will turn out for this poor soul. (More on creating characters your readers will care about here.)
Two types of suspense: Long-term and Short-term.
Long-term suspense means we will wait a long time to discover the answer. This type of suspense is linked to the overarching, global, or dramatic story question–whatever you want to call it—but it's the big idea behind the book.
For example: Will Katniss Everdeen survive the Hunger Games? Or will Frodo destroy the ring before it corrupts him? Will Bridget Jones ever find love? Or will Shrek get his swamp back? Will Sherlock solve this mystery? Will Harry Potter fall victim to He Who Shall Not Be Named?
These questions fuel the plot and are driven by the story's central conflict. Notice these big dramatic questions are often revealed early in the story, and we don't uncover the answer at the end of the book!
Short-term suspense is the immediate questions that pop up as we read, related to the characters and the situational conflict they face in each scene and the overarching story. Each answer will bring us closer to resolving the story.
Spoiler Alert for The Hunger Games!
One of the major short-term suspenseful questions in the first chapter of The Hunger Games is who will be chosen during the reaping.
We get our answer from the last sentence of chapter one.
It's not our protagonist, but from Katniss's POV, the worst possible outcome has occurred. The thing she never expected—but was always a possibility—happened. Her delicate, innocent little sister, Prim, was chosen.
The short-term suspense is over for that particular question, but not for the story, not by a long shot.
Why?
Because a long-term suspense question had already been introduced (will someone we care for die in the Hunger Games?), and the tension is created from the build-up in the chapter, especially with the hammer drop moment announcing Katniss's sister as the tribute.
Instantly, we have more short-term suspense questions: What will Katniss do? What's going to happen to Prim?
Okay, now let's talk about tension. Remember, tension = feelings.
Even though the state of short-term suspense ended because our question was answered when we knew who was chosen, the tension (how I felt about it) was really high because I knew how much her little sister meant to Katniss, and I knew that being chosen is likely a death sentence. I'm afraid for Prim and dying to know what Katniss will do.
The chapter ends on a cliffhanger. We don’t see Katniss react to that crisis moment, and the author has us right where she wants us: biting our nails and desperately turning to the next page.
That’s suspense and tension woven together beautifully to create a page-turner.
How did the author, Suzanne Collins, set up the suspense and use tension to fuel it throughout the first chapter?
Let's use dissection—my favorite tool—to figure it out!
The first paragraph of the book makes us ask: What is the reaping, and why is it so ominous? We’re officially in suspense, but now we need to care about the character pronto, and the author instantly accomplishes this by showing us who Katniss is: the person her family depends on.
The rest of the chapter weaves us through this pivotal day in Katniss Everdeen's life. And the fact that it’s pivotal is key. This is not just any day. This is the day when life for Katniss, as she knows it, changes. Through a combination of skillfully placed exposition, description, dialogue, and action, we learn what Katniss cares about and why, her wounds and worldview, the obstacles she faces, and the stakes leading us up to the event we have been waiting to see: the reaping itself.
The author didn't just dump this information on us.
She could have said: "Today is the reaping of the Hunger Games, where two kids from our district are chosen to fight to the death against children from other districts in a publicly televised event to remind us never to rebel against The Capitol, and I’m more likely to be chosen than my sister because I’ve entered my name in for rations more times because we’re basically starving.”
No. She set up the suspense by introducing a question and instantly gave us a character we care about. Then, she delivered micro questions and answers throughout the first chapter, which produced tension—and more suspense—so we became acutely aware of the stakes and how personal they are for our protagonist.
In short, the combination of suspense and tension made us invest. We want to know what is going to happen.
The tools of tension and suspense and how to wield them:
Suspense and tension use the same ingredients: anticipation, curiosity, questions, and concern.
Suspense is created by making us care about a character (event or situation) and putting them in a difficult situation.
We’ll read on in anticipation of the answer. We want to know what is going to happen.
Tension is fueled by anticipating a situation (good or bad), wondering what will happen, and understanding how the character feels about it and the potential outcomes.
If you struggle to understand how tension can be good, consider the last sex scene you read. Tension is created through the flirting, the one-step forward, two-steps back dance of the lovers, the kissing, and the foreplay, and it's relieved by the intimate event itself.
Tips for Inserting Suspense and Tension in Your WIP
Put the character's internal struggle on the page
Create meaningful external conflicts related to the story's central problem
Have the character make difficult decisions and show the cost of those choices
Show the global story stakes and scene stakes and build them up
Insert ticking-clocks
Use cliffhangers
Make things bad, then make them worse for your character situationally and emotionally
Make the reader ask questions to create short and long-term suspense, then reward them for reading with the answers
Make the information they learn build on itself to develop the full picture of the conflict
Plant the long-term suspense questions early in the story
Try dissection for yourself:
Do this for any book, but if you want a deep dive into creating ominous suspense and continuously increasing tension, look at chapter one of The Hunger Games. It's a masterwork, in my opinion.
Pay attention each time the author makes you ask a question, then see when they deliver the answer.
How do you feel before you get the answer? What about after?
Do you find you are growing increasingly uncomfortable as the chapter progresses? That's done on purpose. You are anticipating something bad and hoping it doesn't happen to Katniss.
Now, go forth and wield your tension and suspense writer friend!
