The mechanics of building suspense include foreshadowing, drawing out a scene, i.e. the protagonist is walking up to a darkened building and the writer describes the night, the bushes on the path to the door, the sounds, etc. or to build tension the same scene can move quickly using staccato sentences and short intense words. The spirit of building suspense is to use a style that touches on a clue but doesn't pick it up and wave it around; that points in one direction but then moves logically in another.

I have always maintained that if you want to write in a certain genre, you need to read that genre to distraction. Read the classics in your genre and study the pacing, plotting, character development. There is a reason why they are classics. Read 'how to' books, especially on areas you feel are troublesome. Writer's Digest had a series of short books that addressed how to write dialog, how to plot subplots, how to create tension, etc. I picked up a great book called, "How to Write Killer Fiction" by Carolyn Wheat.  Don't try to reinvent the wheel.

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Luisa Buehler
(Romance Authors Corner)

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