Conflict and Suspense

1. The Essence of Story: Trouble and Stakes

It really comes down to one thing: characters who are in trouble.

Trouble is business. At its core, every compelling story, regardless of genre, is about a character facing significant trouble. This trouble creates an emotional connection with the reader, making them invested in the character's journey and eager to see how they navigate their predicament. Without trouble, a story lacks the essential "dull parts taken out" quality that makes it engaging.

High-stakes trouble. The trouble a character faces must be of great importance, threatening a form of "death." This isn't always physical demise; it can manifest in crucial ways that resonate deeply with the character's existence. Understanding these stakes is paramount for the author.

• Physical Death: Literal threat to life (e.g., a thriller where the protagonist might be killed).
• Professional Death: Threat to career, calling, or life's work (e.g., a lawyer losing their ability to practice).
• Psychological Death: Threat to inner well-being, happiness, or identity (e.g., a character losing their sense of self or purpose).

Emotional roller coaster. A novel should be a thrill ride for the emotions, akin to a roller coaster. The author manipulates reader emotions by presenting characters in escalating trouble, building anticipation, and delivering thrilling payoffs. This emotional engagement is the magic that makes readers get lost in a story and compels them to turn pages, making trouble the author's primary business.

2. Foundations of Conflict: The LOCK System

Without conflict there is no drama.

Solid foundation. To build a story brimming with conflict and suspense, authors must establish a robust foundation. The "LOCK" system provides this framework, ensuring that conflict is inherent at every level of the narrative, from individual scenes to the overarching plot. This prevents the story from "leaning away from interest" like the Tower of Pisa.

The LOCK elements:

• Lead Worth Following: Readers must care about the protagonist, whether they are a traditional hero, a negative lead (seeking redemption or justice), or an antihero (forced into involvement). This "give-a-hoot factor" is paramount for emotional investment.
• Objective (with death overhanging): The Lead must have a clear goal: to get something or to get away from something, with one of the three "deaths" (physical, professional, psychological) as the primary stake.
• Confrontation: The Lead must face a strong, conscious opposing force, usually embodied in another character (an antagonist or even an ally with opposing views). This "bonding agent" ensures neither side can simply walk away.
• Knock-out Ending: The story must culminate in a final battle where stakes are highest and the outcome is in doubt, providing a satisfying resolution that ties up loose ends and makes sense in retrospect.

Orchestrating characters. Beyond the Lead and opposition, all characters should be orchestrated for conflict. Each character should have a unique voice, distinct motivations, and potential friction points with others. This ensures that even minor interactions contribute to the overall tension and dynamism of the narrative, preventing blandness and enhancing the story's emotional resonance.

3. Structure for Momentum: Doorways of No Return

Something needs to force the Lead character into Act Two, into the death struggle, into the dark world.

Three-act necessity. A well-structured plot, like a sturdy bridge, guides the reader from beginning to end. The three-act structure (beginning, middle, end) is not restrictive but essential for building and sustaining tension. It ensures a proper setup, a compelling confrontation, and a satisfying payoff, preventing the story from becoming confusing or losing momentum.

The first doorway. The "Doorway of No Return" is the critical incident that propels the Lead from their ordinary world (Act One) into the central conflict (Act Two). This event must be so impactful that the Lead cannot simply walk away; the door slams shut behind them, forcing them into the "death struggle." This creates immediate worry for the reader.

• Plot-driven: An external event forces the Lead into conflict (e.g., Luke Skywalker's aunt and uncle are murdered).
• Character-driven: An emotional push forces the Lead to confront themselves and risk change (e.g., Terry Malloy is moved by a friend's sister's tears).

The second doorway. This event, typically occurring about three-quarters of the way through the novel, enables the Lead to engage in the final battle of Act Three. It's often a major clue, discovery, or a significant setback that forces the Lead's ultimate commitment. This doorway raises the stakes to their highest, making the climax inevitable and ensuring the reader remains hooked until the very end.

4. Crafting Dynamic Scenes: Action & Reaction

There are two basic beats in fiction: action and reaction.

Perpetual plot machine. Every scene in a novel should contribute to the overall conflict and tension, avoiding "dull parts." This is achieved through the dynamic interplay of action and reaction beats. Action involves the character actively pursuing their scene objective, while reaction allows for emotional processing, rumination, and decision-making, all tied to the overarching goal of avoiding "death."

Scene structure. Each scene should have a clear objective, face significant obstacles, and lead to a specific outcome. Ideally, the outcome should worsen the character's situation, ratcheting up tension for subsequent scenes. This continuous cycle of objective-obstacle-setback keeps the reader engaged and worried about the character's fate.

• Objective: What the character wants to accomplish in the scene.
• Obstacles: What prevents the character from achieving their objective.
• Outcome: How the scene ends, preferably with a setback or complication.

Stylized reality. Fiction is not a literal recreation of reality but a stylized rendition for emotional effect. Authors can manipulate time (slow motion), use cinematic techniques (close-ups, cuts), and infuse every detail with meaning to heighten tension. Even quiet scenes can be filled with inner turmoil, worry, or irritability, ensuring that every moment on the page vibrates with emotional connectivity.

5. Inner Conflict: The Human Core

This interior clash as being an argument between two sides, raging inside the character.

Humanizing the Lead. Inner conflict is a powerful bonding agent between reader and character. It humanizes the protagonist by revealing their doubts, fears, and internal struggles, making them relatable and compelling. This internal clash is like an argument between two competing "shoulds," where each side holds significant weight and justification for the character.

Competing emotions. A strong technique is to pit two opposing emotions against each other within the same moment. This creates a powerful emotional crosscurrent, visible through the character's actions and internal thoughts. For example, a character's rage might be tempered by a controlled physical reaction, demonstrating an inner battle for supremacy.

Yearning and backstory. Inner conflict often stems from a character's unfulfilled yearning or unresolved issues from their past. This backstory provides a rich vein for internal struggle, as the past can act as an opposing force to the present. Authors should explore these vulnerabilities, making them a source of ongoing tension and ensuring that the character's internal life is as dynamic as their external challenges.

6. Dialogue as a Weapon

Your dialogue adds to the conflict.

Purposeful talk. Dialogue in fiction should never be mere small talk; it must serve to create conflict and reveal character. Every line spoken should advance the plot, heighten tension, or deepen understanding of who the characters are and what they want. This makes dialogue an active, physical act, a "weapon" characters use to achieve their scene objectives.

Tools for conflict:

• Orchestration: Characters are designed for contrast, ensuring inherent friction in their interactions.
• Subtext: Hidden meanings, past relationships, or thematic undertones add layers of tension beneath the surface.
• Opposing Agendas: Each character in a scene must want something different, even if subtle, creating immediate friction.
• Sidestepping: Avoiding "on the nose" responses (direct answers) with unrelated statements, questions, or actions creates instant conflict and uncertainty.
• Dialogue as Weapon: Characters use words to jab, parry, challenge, or manipulate, reflecting their power dynamics and motivations.
• Parent-Adult-Child: Characters adopt roles (authority, rational, emotional) that shape their interactions and create dynamic tension.

Information through conflict. Rather than resorting to clunky exposition, authors can embed crucial information within confrontational dialogue. This makes the revelation of backstory or plot details feel organic and impactful, as it's delivered through the heat of an argument or a tense exchange, keeping the reader engaged and the story moving.

7. Thematic Argument: Unforgettable Fiction

Think of theme as an argument the character has within himself.

Beyond the plot. Unforgettable fiction often possesses a "secret weapon": the thematic argument. This is a deeper, unifying argument about life, how it should be seen, or how it should be lived, that rages within the character and permeates the entire story. It elevates the narrative beyond mere entertainment, giving it lasting resonance.

The "one thing." Authors should identify their "ultimate concern" – the core belief or value they would "die for" – and infuse this passion into their characters. This ensures that when characters care about something, it's with the same intensity and conviction as the author's deepest truths. This underlying passion creates extremes of emotion that make the fiction memorable.

Don't preach, argue. While the author's worldview may be present, characters should never be mere mouthpieces. Instead, the thematic argument should unfold naturally through complex characters who genuinely interact and justify their positions, even if those positions are opposing. This allows the reader to engage with the philosophical questions raised without feeling lectured, making the conflict feel authentic and compelling.

8. Suspense: The Art of "What Happens Next?"

Suspense is the tightening of the emotional experience of the reader.

Pleasurable uncertainty. Suspense is the essential element that keeps readers turning pages, creating a feeling of "pleasurable uncertainty." It's the delay of resolution, making the reader desperately want to know what happens next. Unlike mystery, which focuses on "who did it," suspense is about "will it happen again?" or "what will happen next to the Lead character?"

Strands of suspense:

• Macro Suspense: The overarching question of whether the Lead will survive their "death struggle" throughout the entire novel.
• Scene Suspense: The unresolved outcome of individual scenes, where the character's objective faces obstacles.
• Hypersuspense: When neither the character nor the reader knows the identity or nature of the opposing forces.
• Paragraph Suspense: Withholding information or ramping up tension within the smallest unit of text.

The ticking bomb. Alfred Hitchcock famously distinguished suspense from surprise: surprise is a sudden explosion, while suspense is seeing the ticking bomb under the table. Authors must set up the "bomb" (the stakes and potential danger) early, then continuously delay its resolution, ensuring the reader is always on tenterhooks, desperate for the answer to "what happens next?"

9. Stretching Tension: The Roller Coaster Ride

When you have any moment of action, conflict, or tension, consider the various ways you can keep it going.

Control the pace. Every scene should possess tension, whether from overt conflict or subtle inner turmoil. Authors control the pace by strategically slowing down time, akin to slow motion in film, during moments of high action, conflict, or emotional intensity. This allows the reader to fully experience the moment, heightening the impact and drawing out the suspense.

Techniques for stretching:

• Detailed Action: Expand a split-second action into multiple paragraphs, detailing internal thoughts, physical sensations, and external observations.
• Emotional Deep Dive: Prolong moments of strong emotion by exploring the character's internal landscape, their fears, worries, and conflicting feelings.
• Microobstacles: Introduce small, seemingly insignificant hurdles that delay the character's progress and carry the potential for larger complications.
• Ticking Clock: Impose a time limit on a crucial event, creating urgency and forcing the character to act under pressure.
• Interruptions: Break a scene at a moment of high tension with an unexpected event or a shift in perspective, forcing the reader to wait for resolution.

Raising the stakes. To maintain and stretch tension, authors must continually raise the stakes across three areas:

• Plot Stakes: Increase external danger, introduce new, more formidable opponents, or threaten professional ruin.
• Character Stakes: Intensify emotional wrenching, threaten psychological destruction, or endanger loved ones.
• Societal Stakes: Expand the problem's consequences to the wider community, illustrating broader implications.

10. Styling for Impact: Every Word Counts

The more distinct and variable your style, the more choices you have.

Voice as a tool. Style and voice are not merely aesthetic choices; they are powerful tools for heightening conflict and suspense. A distinctive voice, a unique "personality on the page," draws readers in and makes the narrative unforgettable. This is achieved through conscious choices about language, sentence structure, and rhythm.

Precision in prose:

• Telling Detail: Use single, potent descriptive elements (a gesture, an image) that convey a "universe of meaning" and hint at deeper conflict or character traits.
• Varying Rhythms: Alternate between short, fast sentences (for forward motion) and longer, more descriptive ones (for slowing pace and mood-setting) to control the reader's experience.
• Word Selection: Choose words precisely for tone and effect, avoiding "flabby" adjectives and adverbs. Strong verbs often eliminate the need for modifiers.
• Grammar for Impact: Prioritize active voice for cleaner, stronger sentences. Use periods to create sharp, distinct units of expression, especially in high-suspense moments. Avoid excessive semicolons and exclamation points, which can dilute tension.

Don't gild the lily. Avoid unnecessary ornamentation or telling the reader what is already evident through showing. Every word should serve the story's purpose, enhancing conflict and suspense rather than merely describing. Practice and awareness of these stylistic choices will dramatically improve a writer's ability to grip readers.

11. Strategic Revision for Maximum Impact

Revision presents you with a platinum opportunity to find ways to increase the conflict measures of your book.

The second draft is key. After completing the first draft, stepping away from the manuscript for a few weeks is crucial. Revision is where the true magic happens, transforming a raw manuscript into a polished, page-turning experience. The goal is to systematically identify and amplify conflict and suspense throughout the entire book.

Targeted revision areas:

• Character Work: Ensure all main characters are active, heavily invested in the narrative, and introduced with an immediate "disturbance." Intensify their emotional stakes and differentiate their voices.
• Scene Work: Review every scene for tension. Eliminate dialogue without conflict, excessive exposition, and static moments. Inject motion and ensure every character has a clear agenda.
• Cut and Elevate: Ruthlessly cut any "dull parts" or scenes that a "tired, overworked editor might be tempted to put the manuscript down." Then, identify three key scenes to "elevate into greatness," packing them with conflict, emotion, and surprise.
• Beginnings and Endings: Start scenes closer to the main conflict, cutting unnecessary lead-ins. End scenes by cutting a few lines or paragraphs before the natural resolution, leaving the reader with a "cliff-hanger" effect that compels them to turn the page.

Continuous improvement. The revision process is an ongoing learning experience. By applying these conflict- and suspense-focused strategies, authors can dramatically improve their craft, ensuring that every page of their novel is packed with confrontation, tension, complications, and surprises, ultimately leading to a compelling and unforgettable reading experience.

Last updated: August 10, 2025