Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot
How to Write Gripping Stories That Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats
Penguin Publishing Group · Print & ebook · April 28, 2016
Using case studies, exercises, and dozens of examples from best-selling authors, learn how to write compelling stories that leave your readers wanting more.
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- Who it’s for
- A practical guide to using suspense across genres, from mainstream fiction to memoir.
- Themes
- Suspense writing, Plot and story structure, Character and description craft
- Genres
- Fiction Writing, Writing as a Career, Writing Nonfiction & Memoir
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Using case studies, exercises, and dozens of examples from best-selling authors, learn how to write compelling stories that leave your readers wanting more. Suspense is one of the most powerful tools a writer has for captivating readers – but it isn't just for thrillers. From mainstream fiction to memoir, suspense creates the emotional tension that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.
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Mastering Suspense, Structure, & Plot is your hands-on guide to weaving suspense into your narrative. Award-winning author Jane K. Cleland teaches you how to navigate genre conventions, write for your audience, and build gripping tension to craft an irresistible page-turner. Inside, Cleland will teach you how to: • Implement thirteen no-fail techniques to construct an effective plot and structure for your story • Use Cleland's Plotting Road Map to add elements of suspense like twists, reversals, and moments of danger • Write subplots with purpose • Improve your descriptions, character development, sentence structure, and more "Indispensable! For newbie authors and veterans alike, this terrific how-to is your new go-to. Don't write your book without it – it's a treasure." – Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony, Macavity and Mary Higgins Clark award-winning author
Tension by Design
A practical guide to using suspense across genres, from mainstream fiction to memoir.
Come here for
- Ways to build tension beyond thrillers
- A closer look at plot, subplots, twists, and reversals
Expect
- Case studies, exercises, and examples from best-selling authors
- Thirteen plot techniques and a plotting road map
Where it sits
| Fiction Writing | 83% |
|---|---|
| Writing Nonfiction & Memoir | 32% |
| Writing as a Career | 30% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Writing as a Career
- Creative Writing
- Writing Composition
- Authors
- Jane K. Cleland
- Publisher
- Penguin Publishing Group
- Published
- April 28, 2016
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Suspense writing · Plot and story structure · Character and description craft
- Reading lane
- Writing as a Career