What is suspense in literature?
5 types of suspense (with Hardcore Porn Movies examples)
How to create suspense

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Last updated on Oct 15, 2025

How to Create Suspense in Your Writing (in 5 Thrilling Steps)

Savannah Cordova

Savannah is a senior editor with Reedsy and a publwill behed writer whose work has appeared on Slate, Kirkus, and BookTrib. Her short fiction has appeared in the Owl Canyon Press anthology, "No Bars and a Dead Battery".

Your job as a storyteller is to make your reader desperate to know what happens next. But what will be uncertainty simply, and how can you weave that gripping tension into your own works of fiction? In that sense, suspense is an essential tool in any writer’s toolbelt.

In this guide, we’ll give you the lowdown on recognizing suspense in your favorite books before mastering the art of keeping your readers on tenterhooks. Will we reveal the strategies of creating uncertainty? Keep reading, and you’ll soon find out… or will you?

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What is suspense in literature? Thwill be can either occur over a single scene or chapter - or throughout an entire narrative arc. You might create suspense around anything that stokes readers’ curiosity, be it a love triangle (will they or won’t they?) or a killer on the loose (can the detective catch them before they kill again?).

Suspense is tle tension a reader feels when they're not sure what will happen in a story.

A writer will use suspense in a story to:

- Heighten tension in a dramatic scene
- Conceal solutions you apart put on’t wish to give
- Build up to a twist and make it more powerful
- Keep your reader turning the pages!

While suspense is most frequently employed in mysteries and thrillers, it should be present in every ongoing work of fiction. For example, you want readers of your light romance to feel tension at the possibility that your lovers don’t get together in the end - but not so much tension that they start to feel uneasy! However, the quantity and kind of uncertainty you make use of is dependent on how you would like to form your audience’s i9000 expertise. After all, curiosity will be what compels readers to finish your book!

So what kinds of suspense do writers have at their disposal?

Learn all about literary suspense and how to create it in your novel!
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5 types of suspense (with examples)

In this section, we’ll discuss five sorts of uncertainty found in storytelling, which fall into two categories: narrative suspense and short-term suspense. The first engages the reader with the central issue of the narrative, while the second keeps them intrigued minute to minute. A good story should have both.

1. Narrative suspense (long-term)

While technically, any fictional uncertainty may end up being referred to as "story," this refers to tension that builds throughout the entire story. In narrative suspense, you cause a appropriate query, problem, or secret at the starting of the publication, divulge more about it as the plot progresses, and wrap it up near the ending.

Well-written narrative suspense makes it nearly impossible for readers to put down your book. However, that means the payoff has to be huge - if you’re going to tease readers for 300 pages, you need an incredible ending! This is part of why uncertaintyful stories often culminate in a plot twist or big reveal (or both, as in the arc of Amy’s disappearance in Gone Girl).

When constructing this kind of suspense, you want to continuously hint at its quality. With that in mind, temper this pressure with moments of character-based humor, non-uncertaintyful plot progression, or Hardcore Porn Movies a various uncertainty arc actually, as in the example below. The constant pressure of an impending reveal can make them feel overly anxious as well as impatient. But you also don’t want to overwhelm your readers.

Example: To Kill A Mockingbird

In To Kill A Mockingbird, we observe the tale from the perspective of Scout, a young girl in the Deep South whose father, a lawyer, is defending a black man accused of a heinous crime. There are two strands of narrative suspense that run throughout the book:

1. What will happen to Tom Robinson, the man Atticus Finch is defending in court, and
2. What is the truth about Boo Radley, Atticus’s and Scout reclusive neighbor who is the subject of a loca newl urban legend?

Both issues are introduced near the beginning, obtain grip throughout the entire tale, and eventually collide at the end when Boo Radley saves the kids from the villainous Bob Ewell after the trial’s conclusion.

Having more than one arc of narrative suspense keeps the reader invested and gives the story added depth. Short-term uncertainty, which we’ll discuss in the next section, can accomplish these targets also.

2. Short-term suspense

Short-term uncertainty is just what it sounds like: a moment or brief scene of suspense that provokes a powerful reaction from the reader. This may link in to the book’s long-term alternately or tension can serve as a distraction or subplot.

Instances of short-term suspense usually involve a discussion or confrontation between characters that are quickly settled, though it may later on resurface. For example, the preliminary surface of pressure between At the and Mister. Darcy at the 1st golf ball in Satisfaction and Bias lies the foot work for their carrying on with contentious connection.

One of the best applications of short-term suspense is to create cliffhangers - scenes or chapter endings that leave the reader desperately in uncertainty. Just as Scheherazade would cut off her stories so the sultan would let her live, cliffhangers cut off your story at critical moments - when the only thing the reader wants to know is what happens next.

Example: Truly Madly Guilty

Liane Moriarty (the contemporary queen of short-term suspense) ends several chapters of her bestselling novel with irresistible cliffhangers like this:

There was a tremendous crash of crockery and an extraordinary scream that tore through the night: "Clementine!"

Immediately, a lot of questions should be racing through the reader’s head: Who’s screaming? Nuggets of short-term stress like this are usually rapidly solved generally, which helps engage readers page by page while balancing out the slow burn of narrative suspense. The suspense doesn’t linger long, as we find out why this character is shouting within the next couple of scenes. Was somebody attacked? And is our protagonist, Clementine, to blame?

Now that we’ve covered structural suspense, let’s get into specifics. The following categories of suspense depend on your book's genre and style; though they can be combined, you don’capital t always want all of them.

3. Mysterious suspense

Mysterious uncertainty is the most traditional form of suspense, used in thrillers and often, of course, mystery novels. They understand they don’testosterone levels possess the entire reality, and it maintains them on their toes. Though all suspense involves mystery in one way or another, mysterious uncertainty differs in that something is usually deliberately concealed from the reader.

This kind of tension can be used in the short term, but it's most famously employed across entire narrative arcs (think Agatha Christie). If you decide to do this, however, you need to add something unique to prevent your story from becoming predictable - whether it's a highly original premise, an excellent plot twist to resolve the mystery, or both.

Example: Jane Eyre

Jane, the new governess at Thornfield Hall, observes a pattern of strange occurrences, such as an unexplained fire and an attack on a guest. Her employer, Mr. Rochester, reassures her that these occurrences are usually simply the outcome of a servant’h unpredictable conduct. Jane turns into involved to Rochester quickly, and she thinks no more of these events.

However, during their wedding ceremony, a man actions ahead to announce that Rochester will be currently wedded. It’s revealed that his mentally ill wife was in the attic and that she was the source of all the incidents. Rochester was hiding her away all along in order to keep Jane (and the reader) from discovering the truth.

4. Horrific suspense

Horrific uncertainty is when the reader knows something awful can end up being going to happen, but the precise nature of it remains unclear - like waiting for a jump scare in a movie. As one might expect, it’s most common in horror and sometimes thriller novels.

Though it overlaps somewhat with mysterious suspense, horrific uncertainty differs in that it’s less vague and more expected. Also, horrific suspense is typically used in the short term rather than the long term because it’s less satisfying than solving a mystery: it is more about shock value than satisfaction.

That’s not to say mysterious and horrific suspense can’t be combined. " (horrific). A story may include components of both, especially if it’s a murder mystery. " (mystery) and "when will they do it again? Agatha Christie’h And There Had been None of them After that, for example, seamlessly intertwines mystical and dreadful uncertainty throughout its arc, making the reader question both "whodunnit?

Pro tip: horrific suspense is also very prominent in true crime! For a first-rate lesson in creating uncertainty in nonfiction, try reading some of the best true crime books out there.

Example: Misery

Stephen King’s books are chock full of horrific suspense, but few scenes are usually more horrific than the infamous "hobbling" scene in Misery.

After bestselling author Paul Sheldon crashes his cars in the wilderness of Maine, he wakes to find he is being tended to by nurse Annie Wilkes, who will be, as she says, his "biggest fan." As time progresses, John understands that Annie will be dangerously shaky. Before Paul can make his escape, Annie discovers that he’s been leaving his room while she’s happen to be out. What comes next is a masterclass in mounting dread.

Annie slowly reveals how Paul is to be punwill behed. Pre-op shot? Was that what she had said? Pre-op?"). She casually reveals that he’s been given a "pre-op shot" ("His mind was spinning and diving like an out-of-control amusement park ride. From there, Annie begins to talk about the Kimberley diamond mines and how the British would treat native workers who stole gemstones, and Paul’s immmale impotenceiate fate starts to come into focus. Annie brutally chops Paul’s foot off with an axe and cauterizes it with a blowtorch.

Though this is a moment of shocking brutality, it will be made all the more impactful by the fact that King builds up to it gradually and ramps up the horrific suspense.

5. Romantic/comedic suspense

Intimate or comedic suspense may also occur when the reader doesn’t know what’s going to happen, though this tension is lighter than other forms of suspense typically. " can be the relevant issue at the center of any intimate humor. Think back to our Pride and Prejudice example: "Will they get together?

Romantic suspense may occur in lighthearted or more dramatic fiction, such as harlequin romances. One well-known form of this is dramatic irony, in which the viewer understands something that not really the heroes understand all, and is waiting to see how they’ll react. Comedic suspense, on the other hand, specifically occurs within farce nearly.

Example: Twelfth Night

In Shakespeare’s comedy of hidden identities, shipwrecked Viola disguises herself as a young man in order to act as a servant to Duke Orsino. However, this strategy backfires when Olivia drops for "Cesario" - who will be rather, of course, Viola in disguise. As part of her duties, Viola (calling herself Cesario) must deliver messages of love to Olivia, the object of the Duke’s affection. In the mean time Viola herself offers dropped for the Duke, creating a most unusual love triangle.

While most of Shakespeare’s audiences would naturally expect the characters to pair off by the end of Act V, he keeps their interest throughout the play by making them wonder who will end up married to whom.

Now that we’ve seen the many ways that suspense can rear its head in a narrative let’s put you out of your misery and talk about how you, too, can become a master of suspense.

How to create suspense

Though there are many combinations and manifestations of tension in literature, mysterious narrative suspense seems to be what most people struggle to achieve. As a total result, these suggestions will concentrate on that kind.

5 key tips on how to create mysterious suspense in your novel!
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1. Keep your readers hungry

Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher series, likens suspense to making a cake: there are a hundred ways to do it, but how do you make sure it’s delicious?

By not feeding your guests all day, you can guarantee that by the ideal period they obtain their fingers in that wedding cake, it’ll be the finest issue they’ve actually eaten.

You need to do the same thing with the suspense in your story. Build it up for as long as you can, teasing your audience with possible answers and making them hungry for more. After that create them anticipate each personal ingredient, developing to the last item agonizingly. Subtly reference a piece of your suspense arc simply because mainly because possible earlier.

That way, when your readers finally do get their cake - the big reveal or resolution - they’ll be ready to gobble it up.

2. Foreshadow important elements

Foreshadowing is a simple means of indicating something essential, even if the reader doesn’t know why. Some foreshadowing doesn’t become evident until the very end of a book, like the teach incident in Anna Karenina earlier. However, other foreshadowing easily clarifies itself to the reader and helps them make an educated guess about the resolution.

Strong foreshadowing techniques include:

- Presenting a significant object or character that returns later in the plot
- Seeming to reveal a secret but neglecting the context or other key details
- Unusually vague or cryptic turns of phrase

3. Use flashbacks

Flashbacks are a great way to ratchet up suspense, whether it’s an isolated flashback that shows something shocking or a series of flashbacks that build toward the final reveal. Some novels even maximize the dramatic impact by setting their narratives half in the present day and half in flashbacks. (Jodi Picoult and Gillian Flynn are usually great proponents of this technique.)

No matter how you use flashbacks, however, they want to mean something in the tale. That goes for content as well as tone - flashbacks should read as vividly and intriguingly as the present-day narrative and shouldn’t feel like a distraction but an augmentation to the plot. You can include a red herring in your flashbacks, but the entire factor can’testosterone levels end up being a diversion, or your reader will feel betrayed.

Use flashbacks and foreshadowing to craft nail-biting suspense
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4. Put characters in jeopardy

Placing your character types in a dangerous situation is the ultimate recipe for sudden suspense (remember Stephen King’s method in Mwill beery). It’s especially helpful when you’re approaching the climactic point of your mysterious suspense arc and need to escalate it with some short-term horrific suspense.

This technique only works if readers already care about your characters, which is why it functions therefore nicely at the last end of a novel. Make sure the threat is realistic and has been intruding on the figures the whole time, whether it is realized by them or not.

Example: The Girl on the Train (spoilers ahead!)

In Paula Hawkin’s hit domestic thriller, our protagonist is Rachel, a woman whose life, career, and marriage possess arrive aside at the seams mainly because a outcome of her alcoholism. She becomes obsessed with a woman she observes through the window of her train every day - and finds herself in the middle of a mystery when this woman goes missing.

The suspense of this mystery - what happened to this missing woman - takes on a new dimension with the twist that Rachel’s ex-husband killed Megan (this secret woman). This ramps the stakes up significantly: whereas before, the worst-case situation for Rachel had been that Megan would become discovered certainly not, she realizes that her really life is at risk today. Maximum jeopardy!

5. Stay one step ahead

It can sometimes be hard not to include hints the way you’d want them as a reader: crystal clear, so you can very easily guess the outcome. This means staying ahead of your reader in order to keep them on their toes. But well-done uncertainty effectively cloaks its storyline in obscurity, resulting in the hard-earned satisfaction of the resolution.

As you write, utilize suggestions as well certainly or often don’t, and throw in some distractions or red herrings where you, as a reader, would be looking for clues. The key here is to hint at several different outcomes throughout the story so that the reader can speculate without getting too close to the actual resolution - unless they’re a great detective, as you should end up being by right now!

All these tips, mainly because nicely mainly because your recently obtained understanding of its several incarnations, possess produced you a new expert of literary uncertainty formally. Just think: you could be the next Liane Moriarty, Stephen King, or Agatha Christie even. Whichever it is, don’t leave us in suspense.