Monday, October 24, 2011

Creating Fear in the Minds of Readers

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I love Halloween, don't you? And since it's coming up next Monday, I thought I'd do some scary posts in honor of this most creative of occasions. Whether you write horror or contemporary, fantasy or sci-fi, chances are there is a point where you want to frighten your reader. Fear is one way to be emotionally invested in a book, and if the payoff is done well (we'll talk about that next time) you have an excellent combination. 


So how do you do it? Do you throw in a scary monster? Not necessary, though I love a good monster. Here are some do's and do not's for setting up the tension. That's right! Tension = Fear, concern, worry, anxiety, nervousness - you get the idea. 


Do:

  • Put your MC is danger. Seems obvious, I know. But some of us have a hard time doing that to our beloved characters. Don't protect them.  
  • Keep that danger ominous. Yes you have to reveal information to your reader, but don't come out shooting. Think of some of your favorite books. Chances are the villain was built up over time so that his presence was a cloud looming over the MC. Voldemort is a great example. We see from other's reactions (just the fear that using his name instills in all but Dumbledore) that he is someone to avoid. Before he is ever seen, we are frightened of him.
  • Play with time. Huh? What I mean is, use your pacing to your advantage. Slow it down right as the tension mounts. Make the MC reach slowly toward that creaking door that you just KNOW the killer is hiding behind...
  • Make your MC helpless. Whatever he/she is facing should be the worst possible thing you can think of. Find his Kryptonite and use it to the villain's advantage. We should feel just as helpless when reading it as he does. 
  • Make it your MC's fault. If she feels responsibility for the heinous situation, we are doubly invested in her seemingly impossible attempt to right the wrong she created.
Don't:
  • Be cliche. Walking down an eerie street in broad daylight can be scarier than a dark and stormy night. 
  • Make your antagonist a device. Give the villain some depth. Don't just throw in a mindless monster because it gives you reason to react. Yeah, zombies are scary, but what's scarier is the mad scientist who created them by experimenting on foster kids like your MC. 
  • Tell. Yeah I know, that whole show don't tell thing. But it's really helpful when you're trying to instigate strong feelings in the readers and immerse them in a scene. 
  • Pull your punches. Don't take it easy on us or your characters. This goes with putting your MC in danger. Dish it out fully. Don't be afraid, you can always clean up the carnage if you must during revisions. 
  • Underestimate the reader. Assume we get it. The more details we have to fill in with our imagination, the scarier it actually is. That's not an excuse to fail to describe things or plant the idea in the first place. Just be purposeful in where and how those details come. 
Remember it's that moment of suspense before the killer jumps out from behind the door that makes the difference. Also, if you notice, the majority of these tips aren't so much about the bad guy as the MC. 

30 comments:

  1. What great tips! I think it's the toying with the char. that I see in scary movies! I can't stand when characters go down a dark street or forest in the middle of the night. Seriously?

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  2. Great points all, and very timely for me! I'll be putting all of this advice to good use in my current WIP. I especially like your "don't" points, and particularly the last one. I really don't like when I feel the hand of the author in the story, obscuring stuff that the reader should know, all in the name of suspense. It really doesn't work when it's heavy-handed like that.

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  3. Make it your MC's fault. I love this one. Drawing empathy from the reader is a great way to keep them reading1! Great tips!

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  4. Perfect timing for me since I'm about to start my next project: YA horror.

    Great stuff to also consider for my current wip. :D

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  5. Oooh, these are awesome suggestions! I hadn't thought about a lot of these before (specifically making it your MC's fault), and you're totally right about that upping the suspense. Really great don'ts too. For the longest time I struggled with creating believable villains. The key turned out to be just developing them as much as I did the MCs,

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  6. Make it your MC's fault. If she feels responsibility for the heinous situation, we are doubly invested in her seemingly impossible attempt to right the wrong she created. Oh this is a good one! I hadn't thought of that heightening fear/anxiety before (even though I've used it), but that's exactly what it does. Nice!

    Don't: Pull your punches. This one took me a while to learn, but once I did, it really helped.

    Great post!

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  7. Excellent tips! I really need to work on putting my MC's in greater jeopardy. I tend to coddle them, which doesn't do a think for tension.

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  8. "Clean up the carnage" I love that! These are such excellent points to remember. I need to keep pacing in mind, because I can easily flub on this.

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  9. I love reading horror and pacing is one of those things that if done well really ups the stakes of the story -- plus makes me heart beat faster and turn the page.

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  10. I love these great tips! Playing with time and pacing is one of my favorite things to do. Great idea for scary posts before Halloween! I'm looking forward to more. :)

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  11. Great post! I know during my next revision I need to go through and make sure I paced things well in my tenser scenes.

    I love halloween too >:)

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  12. Great advice! Especially the Don't Underestimate Your Reader - so true. I hate reading 'scary' scenes that keep telling me they're scary. It's like... okay, I get it. Can we move on? :) - Wonderful post!

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  13. Great post and excellent advice, I'm thinking about writing a horror/suspense post-apocalyptic type story this year for Nano, so I'll definitely be keeping all this in mind! =)

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  14. I love these tips~ I'm not writing a horror/thriller manuscript, but these tips are applicable to the big moments of tension in my story, so thanks!

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  15. Great list of Do's and Don'ts, Lisa! I know this may sound mean of me, but I do rather enjoy putting my MC in the middle of danger *grins* It's so much fun...lol!

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  16. Great tips. I'd love to write a horror book one day. I have a paranormal on the back burner, which I'd like to return to, and I could use these suggestions for it.

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  17. This is great! I appreciate your insight. :)

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  18. I like to write things that creep me out and make my MC be just as freaked as I would be. One word - snakes.

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  19. Love this. Seriously Lisa, you come up with some of the best posts! I especially like 'making it your MC's fault'. That one is critical. :)

    Angela@ The Bookshelf Muse

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  20. As always...
    It IS that moment of suspense. Takes a lot of practice getting it right.

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  21. I love your do's and dont's! Thanks for the great advice!

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  22. A ha, so one technique to inspire fear in your reader is for you to be fearless in yoru writing! :) Oh man, experimenting on foster children. That DOES give me the chills.

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  23. My current wip is fairly creepy, so this post is really timely. Thank you, Lisa!

    Becca @ The Bookshelf Muse

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  24. I've been doing horrid things to my MCs and scaring myself!

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  25. Awesome points! I'm outlining now this ms, and I'll take them into account. Esp. the second point (keep danger ominous) because that's something to think about when you're outlining. :)

    But you know what happens to me sometimes? I make it so hard for the MCs that then I have no idea how to get them out of the mess! LOL

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  26. I remember when I learned 'take your time' -- it seemed so counter-intuitive to me, but ever since then I've noticed when writers do it well. The slowing down is agony!

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  27. Awesome post! I think developing fear in the minds of our readers can be tricky and a bit of a balancing act to make it true. But when the fear is there and it works, it's hard for a reader to stop turning pages.

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  28. Just what I needed for writing my first ghost scene. Thank you!

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  29. ahh... these are great tips, Lisa! I think the best one is about slowing everything down. Oh, and making it the MCs fault. Good stuff! Thanks~ :o)

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