The Novelry on Writing Podcast: 5 Keys to Unlock Suspenseful Stories

No matter your genre, readers love a bit of mystery and tension on the page. In this episode of our podcast, The Novelry on Writing, we learn how to unlock suspenseful stories with five key insights from The Novelry author and writing coach Amanda Reynolds and editor Sorcha Rose. Read on for the episode transcript.

Maybe I’ll kill somebody else. You know? When somebody says to me: I think maybe I need another body. Why? Again, come back to the purpose.
—Amanda Reynolds

Introduction

[Sorcha Rose] Hi, I’m Sorcha Rose, and I’m an editor here at The Novelry and I specialize in crime and thriller.

[Amanda Reynolds] Hi, I’m Amanda Reynolds. I’m an author of psychological thrillers and an author coach at The Novelry of crime and suspense.

[SR] So, today we have the exciting task of talking about the five keys to suspenseful stories. Crime and thrillers especially need a lot of suspense. But this goes across lots of different genres, doesn’t it, Amanda?

[AR] Absolutely, yeah.

[SR] So, should we kick off with our first one?

Tip No. 1: Pull the reader in

[AR] The first one is to pull the reader in right from the start. And I know this is something that is quite difficult to do, but I always aim to do that right from the beginning of the story because we are really up against it, aren’t we? As authors and as editors reading as well, in terms of like, there’s so much that people can go and do now. They can go and watch Netflix and they can be on their phones. So we’ve got to grab their attention really, from that— I was going to say first page, but you know, I think it’s even first line, isn’t it?

[SR] Definitely. And I think, especially as an editor, thinking about going on submission, if that’s what you’re trying to get an agent interested in your story, you’ve got to make it so compelling. I think some people think you can’t go back to the opening and finesse that, but that’s the part that you probably finesse the most to make it the most compelling. And you know, some different ways you can do that—maybe add in a prologue of your killer or something to come in, that’s always really great.

[AR] People are always worried about prologues. I sometimes get questions from writers, you know: is it okay to have a prologue? And there’s almost this sort of urban myth that prologues are hated and we mustn’t have a prologue because it’s an immediate turnoff. But I would say, first of all, as a reader, I love a prologue. How do you feel about prologues?

[SR] Yeah, I do love a prologue. I think, as an editor, sometimes it’s really great to get into the action sooner. Like, if you can see the murder or a killing, or someone watching someone in the bushes, and then you don’t know who that voice is and you’re working out the whole book, you know, that’s already offering up so much mystery and suspense from the very opening. So, yeah. It is so important.

[AR] I mean, what we want to do as authors, as writers, is make sure that even if somebody picks up the book just out of curiosity, that there’s no way they’re ever going to not read on. So right from that very, very beginning, our first key is definitely to pull the reader in. And as you say, I think you can do that with a prologue, but I think you can also do it with... It doesn’t necessarily have to be a big thing, does it? Sometimes, as writers, we think we have to reinvent—we have to come up with something so huge, so amazing, so different. But what we really need to do is pull on that curiosity right from the beginning.

AMANDA: People are always worried about prologues... There’s almost this sort of urban myth that prologues are hated and we mustn’t have a prologue because it’s an immediate turnoff. But I would say, first of all, as a reader, I love a prologue.

SORCHA: Sometimes it’s really great to get into the action sooner. Like, if you can see the murder or a killing, or someone watching someone in the bushes, and then you don’t know who that voice is and you’re working out the whole book... That’s already offering up so much mystery and suspense from the very opening.

[AR] Have you got ways that you, with authors, suggest as an editor that you really do drag people in right from the start of a story?

[SR] Yeah, as an editor we really focus on the question of your novel. What is your reader reading to find out? That’s so essential. And so many times with people we’re like: you need to get that into the opening. You know, first three chapters, they’ve got to be... I’ve got to know exactly what the stakes are, I’ve got to know what I’m coming in for, the excitement of the ride. And sometimes they’re like: oh no, but that comes in chapter five. But as we said, perhaps if they don’t get to chapter five, then what’s the point? So it’s about bringing it forward, bringing in the excitement. Don’t leave it for chapter 5, 6, 7... They might not get there.

[AR] It feels a bit counterintuitive, I think... Almost like you’re giving too much away. And I think particularly in suspense, we sometimes think we’ve got to keep it back. We’ve got to keep the secrets. That’s what’s suspenseful. But I think letting the reader in a little bit right at the beginning, and saying there’s something, you know—even the promise of something really, really dark or deep or difficult or threatening—is absolutely what we’re aiming for. So, yeah, our first tip is definitely pull your reader in right from the beginning.

And I’m thinking of something like The Girl on the Train, where the first line, we are on the train with a girl and she sees the clothes on the side of the track. And I always remember opening that book and being so excited. And it was one of the books that I would sort of steal time, you know? I’d be standing up doing something else and reading that book, and I read it—I’m not a fast reader, as a lot of authors I think aren’t. I mean, thank goodness editors are! But a lot of authors aren’t. But you know, I remember stealing time to read that book because I had to keep going. I had to know what it was. And it wasn’t that it was being held back, it was that it was being revealed piece by piece. But I’m not going to go too much into that because we’re going to come onto that.

Tip No. 2: Keep up the pace

[AR] So, once we’ve got the reader, hopefully by the scruff of the collar, and said: come along for the ride, our next tip to our writers is to keep up that pace.

[SR] Yes. Pace is so essential. I think, as an editor, that’s the thing I bring up the most, and it almost... People think it’s a science of like: oh, how do I do it? How do I look at it?  But it’s all about just making sure there’s really exciting reveals happening. You know, in crime and thriller, lots of breadcrumbs and things like that for the investigation to keep people interested. Again, it’s about the main question of your novel. Are you actually feeding into that, or are you talking about a character who’s not even relevant? You know, I think that’s really important with pace.

But what about you, when you are writing your books? How do you think about pace?

[AR] Yeah, one thing that you said when we did a workshop together that has really stuck in my mind, and it’s another P word and it’s purpose. And you said: I’m always using that word. I’m always saying, what’s the purpose of this? And I think it’s such a good stress test because we tend to think that a novel is very, very long and we have a lot of space. We don’t.

[SR] No.

[AR] Literally everything has to earn its place and it has to have a purpose. And I think that really keys into the whole idea of pace. And I think it’s important to look at each scene that we write and think: how is that propelling the story forward and how is it keeping the pace up? And the word ‘pace’ can be a little bit difficult because it makes it feel like it needs to be a car chase. You know? A rattling through the story. And we do need those landing spaces where we need the space between the pace, don’t we, as well?

[SR] Definitely.

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[AR] So how do you, as an editor, look at pace? And what advice would you be giving to people about not only the relentlessness of the pace, but also those spaces where we kind of allow the plot to breathe and for people to really absorb what’s going on as well?

[SR] Yeah. I think what you said is so important—it doesn’t have to be breakneck speed the whole time, especially in crime and thriller, there has to be life or death all the time. No one wants that. We all need a break. We all need a moment to be like: okay, get ourselves back into it. And I think I always say to people: give big moments space. Don’t have one massive reveal happen, then another one, then another one. I think that can be overwhelming for your reader and that can disengage them, even if you think that you are making something really exciting.

I think what I say to people when they’re in the planning stages, or if you are reviewing your novel, if you’ve got a few drafts and it still feels like the pace isn’t working, look at all your reveals and the level of your reveals. Because sometimes it’s something so small, it’s just a new character, or sometimes it’s the murderer, and it’s about making sure they’re all spaced out. All the high ones are not all together. There’s not too much intensity. And then making them pace out, and that will help you think about pace. I think it is really hard. I don’t know about you as an author, when reading your own book to really work out pace. Because you are so close to it.

[AR] Yeah.

It’s about the main question of your novel. Are you actually feeding into that, or are you talking about a character who’s not even relevant? That’s really important with pace.
—Sorcha Rose

[SR] So I think that is difficult, but I think really looking at it as, you know: what happens in this chapter? Has something happened in this one? And if you find that you’ve got five chapters and nothing’s happened in terms of reveals and things like that, that will drop the pace naturally.

[AR] Yeah. I also think it’s about slowing down in those big moments; amazing. I always remember, I think it was in a Kate Atkinson book, where she really slowed down the moment of impact, physical impact, in a car crash. And there was that tension of knowing that it was coming but not knowing how it was going to actually be revealed and pan out. And that was amazing.

[AR] But I think in terms of looking at your own novel and thinking about pace, don’t ever put things in for the sake of it. Sometimes—I’m sure you’ve come across this as well, I know I’ve done it myself—where I think: I don’t have enough. So, maybe I’ll kill somebody else, you know? Or maybe I’ll have, I don’t know, this person needs to do something much more dramatic. Just be careful, I would say, of those moments. Because, you know, when somebody says to me: I think maybe I need another body. Why? Again, come back to the purpose.

[SR] Purpose, yeah.

[AR] What’s the purpose of the extra body? Or is it that maybe you’re having a little bit of a confidence wobble about pace? And just look at the pace in a different way. Like you say, what are the reveals? Are we giving the reader enough credit so that they can join in with this and they can pick up on the reveals as well.

[SR] Definitely.

Tip No. 3: Create characters to root for

[SR] So the next tip that we have for you: characters to root for, which I think is incredibly important for me as an editor and also just my personal taste. I love character-focused books. So I’ve got to love your character, otherwise I’m not going to love your book.

So when you are writing, how do you come up with characters that you love? Or are there any books that, you know, there’s a character—maybe surprisingly—that you root for, even though you shouldn’t?

I think in crime and thriller, this happens a lot where people think—they’re like: oh, but he is a murderer, how’s anyone going to like them? It’s like, American Psycho. He was very charismatic. You know?

[AR] I think that word ‘charisma’ actually is really helpful. So if we think about people that maybe we’re drawn to and really interested in and we kind of want to get under their skin and we want to understand them, but we wouldn’t necessarily have them to dinner, say, in our home. You know? And maybe if they were on the bus we’d sit next to someone else. But they are super interesting.

And also for me, I love writing characters that say things that I would love to say, but never... It’s such good fun to kind of put—

[SR] Good therapy, that.

[AR] It’s great fun! To embody in a character all those kind of delicious, sometimes snarky things that we all think, but obviously we’re way too polite to say. So I love getting into a character who is kind of on the edge of society. Maybe they’re different, maybe they’re misunderstood, or maybe they are somebody who isn’t fitting in for whatever reason, good or bad. And you know, I don’t think we necessarily need to love that person. But we do need to care enough about them.

The example that I sometimes use in coaching is, you know, if the guy is hanging by his fingertips from the edge of the cliff, then I need to understand enough about him to care whether he scrambles back up and is saved, or otherwise just let him go. That’s fine.

[SR] Yeah.

[AR] So we need that investment. We don’t necessarily need to think they are a great person or they’re making great decisions, or that we would like them if we knew them or admire what they’ve done. But, you know, if we were to put ourselves in their extraordinary circumstance, is there any part of us that would behave in the same way and can maybe understand why they do what they do? And you know, if we were protecting a loved one or we were protecting our own life, or the world has gone crazy, what situation would it be that we would understand? And that’s then where I try to get in the psyche of the character.

And I think, you know, we’re all fascinated with true crime podcasts and series on TV about this kind of thing because we want to understand that most of us abide by the rules. So these people who don’t, what is it that’s happened? What’s changed that they’ve crossed a line that none of us ever...?

[SR] Yeah. What’s the motivation? That is something that’s so important you need to understand. I think so many times there are senseless killers and things, and people won’t invest in that person. They need to understand why someone’s going to kill someone, or for revenge or... You know, all the different horrible things that happen in crime and thriller that are super fun. But you need to have motivation for doing it.

We don’t necessarily need to think they are a great person or they’re making great decisions, or that we would like them if we knew them or admire what they’ve done. But, you know, if we were to put ourselves in their extraordinary circumstance, is there any part of us that would behave in the same way and can maybe understand why they do what they do?
—Amanda Reynolds

[SR] I know that we’ve discussed many times before about How to Kill Your Family and, you know, the main character of Bella Mackie’s book. So many people say to me: oh, I hate that book because the person’s so unlikable. The character’s so unlikable, the main character. And I just don’t understand what you mean, because we know exactly why she’s doing what she’s doing. It’s all revenge that’s set up so early on. It’s not a secret. It’s not waiting to the end to find out why she’s doing it. It’s set up and you just go along for the ride, for the fun of it. And I think that’s a really great book, a very voicey book where that is a character you really want to invest in. And also, you are investing in her doing really awful things.

[AR] Oh yeah.

[SR] And you sort of check yourself for a minute. Am I a really terrible person, or is this person just a really good author? Like, really convinced me here.

[AR] Yeah. I love how dark Bella Mackie took that. There’s no compunction about actually saying what she did, why she did it, how many people she killed, really right from the start. There is a great twist as well, which is brilliant.

And sometimes when I’m coaching, people will say: oh, is it too dark? How dark can I go?  And I literally say: go as dark as you want. Because we can always rein it back in.

[SR] Yeah.

[AR] But try to be as brave as you possibly can. Really, really push it. There’s definitely an editorial note that I’ve had in my work: make it bigger, make it more. Because if it’s too much, we can pull it back. But just push it and see how far you can take it. Do those kind of ‘what if?’ questions and just see how dark we can turn this story. You know, I’m always up for that as a coach. I love that. That’s my favorite bit. If someone says: how dark? I say: tell me what you’re thinking...

[Both laughing]

[AR] Let’s have that.

[SR] No shame here. Just let it all out.

[AR] Absolutely not. Let’s go to the dark side together. Definitely.

Tip No. 4: Breadcrumb trail

[AR] So, tip number four, we’ve got: breadcrumb trail. What does that mean to you, Sorcha?

[SR] Well, it means sort of what we’ve already been talking about with different reveals and hints and clues. You know, in an investigation, say—whether that’s an amateur sleuth or a detective—they’re always going to be finding hints and clues, and that’s almost like the building of the breadcrumbs of suspense. You know, we might not know exactly what that clue is hinting at, but it comes up later and it’s about making sure that you have enough that gets your reader invested in your story. We all think we could solve any murder.

[AR] Yeah.

[SR] People are fully convinced of this, and I know so many people who say: oh, I hate this book because I couldn’t see how it ended. And that’s not what you want. You sort of want it to come from somewhere. So that’s where the breadcrumbs of suspense happen.

[AR] Yeah, I think it’s a really good analogy, the breadcrumb, because it conjures the pictures of walking through the forest and picking up the breadcrumbs and collecting them. And, you know, we need to trust our readers, don’t we? We need to assume that they are sophisticated readers, because they are. They are absorbing a lot of content, as we said, so they are excellent detectives—which, in a way, makes our job harder. Which is good, because it should be! But also, I think we need to give them a shot, don’t we? We need to say:

We’re not going to hold everything back to the end. Because that’s annoying and you may not finish the book. What we’re going to do is we’re going to reward your investment, so every now and then we’re going to give you something. And you will think: ah, I know... And maybe you do, and maybe you don’t... But you know a bit more.
—Amanda Reynolds

[SR] Yeah.

[AR] I always love when I read early reviews of my book and there is, I guarantee, always someone who says: well, I knew, of course, right from the beginning. And I’m thinking: well, that’s great because I didn’t, so it’s really good that you did!  But I actually don’t mind that because I think what it means is, that person is really already playing detective right from the beginning. So I think the breadcrumb trail is a really great one, particularly when you’re planning as well, to think about: what breadcrumbs am I going to drop?‍

And the other thing about breadcrumbs is foreshadowing, isn’t it?

[SR] Yeah. Big one. Foreshadowing is so important because, again, you don’t want your reader to be like: oh, that was really strange or feels out of character. You want to be laying the groundwork, and most of the time I think people don’t realize—when they’re writing their first books, especially—is you’ve got to give your reader a lot more credit, as we’ve said. They are so much smarter than you think. They pick up on the smallest of things.

[AR] Yeah.

Try to be as brave as you possibly can. Really, really push it. There’s definitely an editorial note that I’ve had in my work: make it bigger, make it more. Because if it’s too much, we can pull it back. But just push it and see how far you can take it.
—Amanda Reynolds

[SR] And I don’t know about you, but you read a book and, as you say, it’s like you put it in your back pocket. You’re like: that was strange. That was out of character. Something’s not quite right here. I don’t know what it is, but I’m willing to go on the journey to find out what it is.‍

And you’ve got to make sure that if you are foreshadowing something, that you follow through. Nothing’s worse than foreshadowing something and being like: what happened to so-and-so? Where’s the dog?  And then nothing happens.

[AR] They went upstairs and that was it. We never saw them again.

[SR] They were gone forever. Yeah. That doesn’t really work.

[AR] Because, as you say, readers are really savvy. So when they read a book and there’s a gun in a drawer...

[SR] Yep.

[AR] Even if it’s so briefly mentioned, they know that there is significance and at some point, that gun—famously Chekhov’s—will come down off the wall or out the drawer and will be fired.

[SR] Yeah.

You put it in your back pocket. You’re like: that was strange. That was out of character. Something’s not quite right here. I don’t know what it is, but I’m willing to go on the journey to find out what it is... And you’ve got to make sure that if you are foreshadowing something, that you follow through. Nothing’s worse than foreshadowing something and being like: what happened to so-and-so? Where’s the dog? And then nothing happens.
—Sorcha Rose

[AR] So what we can do is, as writers and editors, is say: just really do it very lightly. Lightness of touch. Because readers are clever and they will park it. They’ll remember that and then later on, when we come back and it becomes significant, they’ll think: oh, I should have realized. I knew that. And it makes sense as well. It feels satisfying to them because it’s like: yeah, I knew that was important. I picked up on that. You know?

[SR] Yeah.

[AR] Which is great. We are in this together, then, with the reader. And they’re working alongside us as well.

And a lot of that, I mean... It sounds like you start page one with this incredible inciting incident and you drop all these breadcrumb trails and it’s all easy, but a lot of it comes later, doesn’t it? You know, further drafts down the line, which obviously you are dealing with a lot in your role as well.

[SR] Yeah. Again, it’s about not being afraid to go back through and being like: have I made this obvious enough? Your editor almost is, I would say, I’m your first reader. You know, if I’m saying to you: oh, I don’t understand why this happened because you haven’t foreshadowed it, it’s not because it’s not possible to put that in your book, but it’s because you’re not showing it to me. I’m just taking everything from reading your story. So it needs to be there on the page.

You know, I think people get afraid of putting too much on the page. But, yeah, your readers are smart. They want to have some nice breadcrumbs. So make sure that you are delivering on that. Definitely.

[AR] Yeah. And I remember—well, particularly early on, I think I still do this to a certain extent, is when I get editorial notes I’m like: oh, I should have known. I failed. I should have realized. Why did I not spot what Sorcha spotted? And I think just to kind of reassure anyone who does feel like me, that it’s some sort of failing in them—this is part of the process, isn’t it?

[SR] Yeah, of course. Of course. I think editing isn’t for everyone, but you’ve got to take it all on board. And it’s not always going to come in that first draft.

Tip No. 5: Satisfying endings

[SR] Shall we get to our last tip?

[AR] Yes.

[SR] Which is great for a last tip!

[AR] It is! Yeah.

[SR] It’s satisfying endings. And what we mean by this is, you know, your reader shouldn’t be shocked. We’ve touched on this a bit. Your reader shouldn’t be shocked by the ending. You know, the murderer shouldn’t be someone who’s literally been on the page, like, three times and we don’t know anything about them, or they come in right at the end as a new character. That’s super annoying.

I don’t know how many times people, you know, send me their drafts and I’m like: but why is it them? And they’re like: oh, because they didn’t see it coming. I said: but you will have pitchforks, people will be angry.

[AR] Oh yeah, yeah.

[SR] And readers do get angry. Look at those Amazon reviews. So, you know, people... They aren’t shy.

[AR] One thing that was said to me years ago, which has stuck with me about endings, is that readers will pretty much forgive you anything except a bad ending. Because that’s what they remember. That’s what you leave them with.

[SR] Yes.

[AR] So obviously we want to set things up, we want a beautiful beginning, middle, and end. But the end is really important and it’s something that I work on a lot, and I don’t necessarily know what my ending’s going to be. I’m a massive fan of a last—you know, when you think everything’s wrapped up and you get to the last page. I love in books like Louise Doughty’s Apple Tree Yard, where almost everything is upturned by literally the last page. I adore that. So I definitely look to try and do that myself.

[AR] Even if it’s not a big thing, it doesn’t necessarily have to flip everything, but I love the thought that you leave the reader with that question that they then immediately take to social media and say: who’s read this? Because I need to talk to you about it. That thing that you can kind of chew over with your friends and say: do you think, then...?

[SR] Yeah.

[AR] So I love that kind of satisfying final coda as well.

[SR] And I love what you said. It doesn’t have to be some big dramatic ending, because if your book or your story is not that sort of book that makes sense for it to happen, you know, don’t just kill everyone because that’s surprising.

[AR] Machine gun them all...

[SR] Yeah. Just like that. People love a dramatic ending like that when they’re writing, but realistically, those aren’t the books that we remember. As you said, it’s those books where just the last—you see how long they can eke it out. You’re like: I’ve got three pages left and we haven’t got to the end. And that’s really exciting.

[AR] Yeah.

I love the thought that you leave the reader with that question that they then immediately take to social media and say: who’s read this? Because I need to talk to you about it.
—Amanda Reynolds

[SR] So, we definitely want people to be surprised but not shocked.

[AR] Not shocked. No. We don’t want ‘the robot did it’—unless the robot’s been in the book all the way through. We don’t want page 300, somebody comes in that no one’s met until this point.

[SR] No.

[AR] So we want lots of foreshadowing and we want all of those five keys to suspenseful stories!

[SR] Yes! Working them all together.

This has been so fun, Amanda, and hopefully...

[AR] I could talk forever about this.

[SR] Yeah, I know. Suspense is so important, and hopefully, these keys are going to help everyone. Thank you very much, goodbye!

[AR] Goodbye.

Closing words

[Louise Dean] Thank you for joining us today. We are so pleased to have you along for the writing journey and we hope to see you on another episode of The Novelry on Writing.

If you’d like to learn more, visit us at thenovelry.com. From first draft to finished manuscript, at The Novelry you’ll enjoy one-to-one coaching from bestselling authors, live writing classes with award-winning authors and literary agents, and you’ll work with a publishing editor all the way for submission to literary agents toward a publishing deal.

All writers learn from other writers, even the greats. Write your novel in good company. Join us at The Novelry.

We’ll show you how to start, coax your story into shape, and cheer you on to type The End.

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