13 Essential Elements of a Suspense Thriller

Post by DiAnn Mills.

A reader experiences a suspenseful story when the writing leaves them excited, anxious, and turning pages. Time stands still. The world around the reader fades into obscurity. Devouring each word while sitting on the edge of their seats. Their beloved character faces danger and a high risk of failure. The reader’s pulse and blood pressure elevate. They squirm in their chair. Breathing increases. Will the character survive?

Sounds like a writer’s dream, right? Perhaps you haven’t lit the fuse to writing a suspense novel because you fear failure or lack confidence in your skills. Your dream doesn’t have to be a waste of your incredible imagination but reality. The tips below will help you craft a suspense-filled story and move you closer to reaching your publishing goals.

What are the essential elements in writing suspense? Begin with the basics and build your story from the foundation up.

1. Story Idea

Develop an incredible, suspense-filled idea. Ensure the idea is fresh, unique, and appealing to readers. Pose two social media questions on your favorite platform: “What do you enjoy about a good suspense novel? What do you dislike in a suspense novel?” The responses will inspire your ideas.

“Write about what you never want to know.” —Michael Connelly

2. Theme

Craft a theme that embraces the story. What is the story’s concept or subject that weaves throughout but is not stated? How is the theme a frightening reflection of human nature?

3. Hook

Invite your reader into a thrilling read with an exciting first and last sentence in every scene.

I like what Donald Newlove says about a story hook in his book Painted Paragraphs: “It is about the white-hot opening whose glow speaks for a story’s greatest strength: its spirit.”

4. Protagonist

Capture traits about the perfect protagonist for your story. The reader must passionately care about what happens to the character. The hero or heroine has stepped into serious trouble.

The protagonist with his/her distinct and remarkable point of view must fit three criteria:

• The protagonist has the most to lose if the problem or goal suffers defeat.
• The protagonist has the most to gain if the problem or goal reaches success.
• The protagonist must be active in the climax.

The protagonist has flaws, weaknesses, strengths, and challenges. What is the character’s strongest trait that will help him/her achieve a positive outcome? What new skills will the character need to learn? What is the one trait that could cause the protagonist to lose everything? What is the character’s blind spot? How will the character make a sacrifice?

The key to discovering the character’s motivation and take on a dangerous venture is in the backstory. Research the character’s history for a unique perspective and a defining character.

“A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells the truth about its author.” —G. K. Chesterton

5. Antagonist

Capture traits about a formidable antagonist that draw the reader into the story. Every antagonist resolves to stop the protagonist, but not every antagonist is a villain. A suspenseful novel needs a worthy opponent. The antagonist has more skills than the protagonist, and the likelihood of the protagonist succeeding looks impossible. Lies, betrayal, and unmet needs—perceived or otherwise—motivate the antagonist into action.

The antagonist has flaws, weaknesses, strengths, and challenges. Like the protagonist, the key to discovering the character’s motivation is in the backstory. Establish at least one redeemable quality about the antagonist. For writers who are using a human opponent, no one leaps from his/her mother’s womb and announces they will become a criminal.

The antagonist can be:

• Physical, mental, or spiritual
• Another person
• A people or social group
• A force of nature
• A natural predator, such as an animal

6. Setting

Ensure every scene contains an antagonistic setting. A setting orchestrated to prevent the protagonist from solving a problem or achieving a goal provides value by:

• Forcing the protagonist to adapt to the situation, encouraging growth and change.
• Thrilling the reader with surprise and unpredictability.
• Developing a plot with twists and turns that invites reader intrigue.

7. Plot

Create an unexpected and unpredictable plot. What is the worst possible thing that could happen in a scene because of the character attempting a goal? What is worse? What is even worse than the other two possibilities? The third option adds leverage to a writer’s story.

Foreshadowing allows the writer to pave the way for peril and the unexpected.

Whether the writer is an outliner, seat of the pants, character driven, or a hybrid, the following plot questions ensure a tight scene that moves the story forward.

• What is the point of view character’s goal or problem to solve in the scene?
• What does the point of view character learn in the scene that is new information?
• What backstory is revealed? *Avoid backstory in the first approximately 50 pages.
• How are the stakes raised?

These four questions ensure each scene has a goal, conflict, and high stakes. For the suspense writer, this means situations that reflect a ticking clock, a door that must be opened, or sand dropping through an hourglass. This means a disaster for the character: stop the bad guys, a wound that needs tending before a bleed out, a category-six hurricane, an invasion from outer space, etc.

“Surprise is when a leader is unexpectedly shot whilst giving a speech. Suspense is when the leader is delivering a speech while an assassin waits in the audience.” Unknown

8. Emotion

Emotion is the match that lights the fire to a reader’s interest. Emotion employs the five senses and sometimes their sixth to root the reader into a visceral experience. This keeps the reader engrossed and lets the world slip by while he/she encounters a precarious adventure.

Tonya Reiman: The Power of Body Language discusses the 7 universal emotions: surprise, fear, anger, sadness, disgust, happiness, and contempt.

To root the reader into a thrilling novel, every line must show fiery intensity.

Various literary techniques help the writer sustain a high level of emotion.

Use color symbolism that raises the character’s and the reader’s blood pressure. Study the effects of red, black, and the cautionary shades of yellow, and how color affects us emotionally.

The sound of hard consonants affects emotions with a harsh psychological effect. This use sets the stage for conflict merely by the sound of the word. On the flip side, soft consonants and long vowels are soothing. A suspense writer might use this technique to trick the character into relaxing.

9. Dialogue

Readers want to hear what the characters have to say, how they say it, the distinct words used, mannerisms, and body language. Properly written dialogue is original, exciting, and brimming with conflict. That’s the key to unlocking the power of a suspense novel. Dialogue incorporates characterization, plot, and emotion to propel a story filled with fast-paced action and conflict.

Allow goals, problems, confusion, impatience, ambiguity, interruptions, unanswered questions, and emotions bursting with passion to carve a path to the climax of your story.

10. Unreliable Characters

A character who professes knowledge of a situation, although inaccurate, can drive a story into a zone of heart-pounding action. This literary technique works well with façade stories or a mentally incompetent character who lies to cover critical information.

In The Book Thief, Markus Zusak uses Death as the unreliable narrator, offering a unique perspective on the events of World War II as seen through the eyes of an impartial observer. Death’s detached narration provides insight into the characters’ inner thoughts and motivations while also casting doubt on the reliability of the story’s events. Through Death’s point of view and occasional foreshadowing, Zusak creates a sense of foreboding and suspense by keeping readers guessing about the fate of the novel’s protagonists.

11. Psychological Manipulation

This type of manipulation uses social influences that harm others through lies, deceit, and types of abuse. Some forms are relational—cyber bullying, mind games, gas-lighting, peer pressure, damaged relationships, and distrust. For the writer who is looking for additional ways to use psychological manipulation, I encourage additional research and study.

Psychological manipulation is one of my favorite and most fascinating suspense literary techniques.

12. Pacing

The writer maps a suspense story like running a race from the beginning to the end:

• Don’t forget to breathe.
• Keep one eye over your shoulder.
• Who can the character trust?

Suspense packs the best punch with strong nouns and active verbs. Short sentences speed up the heart rate. An occasional longer narrative keeps the reader from grabbing blood pressure meds. But not too long a narrative! A writer draws out emotions and the means of creating a psychological effect to heighten the stress, tension, and conflict in every sentence.

13. Red Herrings

A red herring is a clue intended to deceive the characters and readers by disguising the antagonist through a carefully crafted plot. A writer uses the technique to twist the plot and confuse the protagonist and the reader. A cleverly executed red herring steers the character and reader to a false conclusion by a purposeful misleading of the character(s). The resulting story layers send the reader on an exciting adventure of twists and turns.

Incorporating a red herring into a plot isn’t a series of misunderstandings that label the protagonist as ill-equipped to reach a goal. Instead, the technique adds another level of complexity to an unpredictable story with a maze of evidence.

The following incorporates foreshadowing and a red herring.

From “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie: “The storm raged outside, lightning illuminating the darkened room in brief flashes of brilliance. Each crash of thunder sent a shiver down Vera’s spine, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. Little did she know, the worst was yet to come.”

Are you ready to accept a suspenseful writing challenge? Try incorporating some of these suspense thriller elements into your story!

DiAnn Mills is a best-selling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She weaves memorable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels with threads of romance. Connect with DiAnn on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Goodreads, BookBub, YouTube, LinkedIn or her website: diannmills.com.

Featured Photo by Sander Sammy on Unsplash