The Key to Creating Suspense Is...

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Suspense matters in all novels, not just the thrillers and the horror stories.

The most memorable experience I've had with suspense and storytelling, was watching the final episode for season one of "Why Women Kill." Despite the name, the show is a drama, not a documentary, and is brilliantly told through three sets of characters, in three time periods, all in the same house. All you know going in is that one of the women in each time period is going to kill. You don't know who, you don't why, and you don't know how.

The final episode where all is revealed is sheer genius.  

I literally sat on the edge of my seat, knees pulled to my chest, hand over my mouth. I was riveted. 

 

Though we often associate suspense with characters in danger, it’s just the reader's anticipation of something: waiting for the killer to strike, hoping for that first kiss between beloved characters, wondering when a life-changing bit of information will finally be revealed—these are all things that pique a reader's interest and keeps them reading.

Which is what suspense is really all about. A reader who doesn’t want to know what happens next won’t read on to find out. 

It's our job as writers to create a situation that’s so tempting, so exciting, so emotional, that readers can’t put down our books.

The key to creating suspense?

Pose questions, and make the reader wait for the answers.

“Questions” can mean any number of things, however. It can be a literal question a character asks, a situation that suggests a question, a mystery that makes readers and characters wonder, the meaning behind an odd detail or bit of dialogue—whatever works for the story.

It typically doesn’t mean "questions the reader asks because of confusion about what’s going on." Confusion does not equal suspense.

The Literal Questions

These are questions posed in the story by the characters. They're designed to make the reader wonder the same thing as the character, and then tag along to find out the answer.

• “Where is Papa going with that axe?” 
• "Did Bobby kill that boy? I had to find out." 
• "What if Juan never went to the party?"

It's not uncommon to see literal questions within goal statements, such as example two above. They're flashing lights that let readers know this is what the plot is going to focus on for a while.

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The Situational Questions

These are questions created by an unusual situation that draws readers in and makes them curious about what’s going on, encouraging them to read on to find out what it all means.

• Who are these people with guns lurking outside a school? 
• Why is that woman agreeing to be put to death? 
• Why is her husband being so evasive? 

With a situational question, what's actually happening in the scene is clear, but the reasons behind it are a mystery. It’s more about discovering the who or why than the what. For example, readers might see two armed men studying a hospital, but who they are, why they’re studying it, and what they plan to do is uncertain. But the danger is clear and readers can see something is not right.

This type of “what’s going on?” is different from the confusing type, though. A confusing "what's going on?" scene would be if you showed a bunch of people planning an attack on a building, but didn't mention it was a hospital or that they had guns. The compelling parts are missing, and there's not enough context to understand what's going on or pique curiosity. 

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The Reaction Questions

These are questions created by emotions. Something is brewing in the story that will cause the protagonist (or another character) to react emotionally in a way readers anticipate—both negatively and positively. 

• Why won't Bob tell Jane he loves her?
• What will happen to them if Sally finds out?
• Why won't Kenzie be open about that night at the benefit dinner?

Readers might know Bob is in love with Jane, and are waiting to discover if he’ll finally get up the courage to tell her. They might also fear what will happen when Sally finds out her husband is in love with another woman. Soap operas and nighttime dramas excel at using reaction questions to create suspense.

The emotional suspense could also come from readers wondering what a character might do if/when certain circumstances occur. If the protagonist is clearly headed toward something bad (or even good), readers will be holding their breaths to see what will happen and how the character will react to it. Readers might even fear that outcome, knowing what it's going to do to the character they love.

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The Information Questions

These questions focus on the discovery of information. Usually, the type of information the protagonist is looking for is clear, and revealing that information is the goal. Sometimes it’s more subtle with clues dropped by the author that only readers see.

• A co-worker broke into the protagonist's office and searched it, and the protagonist sets out to discover why. 
• Hints are dropped that suggest the protagonist doesn’t know the truth about herself; perhaps she’s adopted, or unaware of the real identity of a parent, or she has a special ability or terrible illness.

How something came to be is another example, and one commonly seen in genre fiction. 

• How does a world that forces its children to fight to the death on TV happen? 
• Why is an ordinary man obsessed with killing the president? 
• Why is everyone scared of an eight-year-old girl? 

Readers want to know how or why something is the way it is and they'll read on to find out.

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The Teaser Questions

These are questions posed when answers to previous questions lead to other questions (still with me?) Sure, readers get an answer to something they’ve been dying to know, but it only opens the door to more mysteries, more delicious reactions, more unknowns. 

• The protagonist finds proof Howard shot the sheriff, but readers know Howard was in another state at the time. 
• A teen girl wants to know why she keeps blacking out and fears she's dying, but discovers she's traveling to a parallel dimension during those blackouts instead.
• A man keeps staring at the ceiling, and no one seems to remark on it or even care.

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When done well, questions add suspense and keep the tension high, but if used poorly, they irritate readers and make them impatient to get to the point. 

Questions that drag on and never get answered are frustrating and weaken the impact of other questions and even scenes–why worry about something if the author has proven they won't answer it? Too many questions can leave readers struggling to remember details. Questions left unanswered a little too long can fall flat because readers don't fully remember why they wanted to know the answers in the first place. Consider how you space out your questions and how it affects your novel's pacing. The right balance keeps readers flipping those pages.

No matter what genre or market you write for, suspense in all its forms will help keep readers hooked.

EXERCISE FOR YOU: Pick a random scene or chapter and look for the questions. Which ones are direct and literal? Which ones do the characters ask themselves? Which will make the reader wonder about something? How many of them directly make the reader want to turn the page? If you don't see many questions, brainstorm where you can hold back information to create some.

What are some of your favorite suspense novels? Or suspenseful moments in a novel, whatever the genre. 

*Originally published April 2014. Last updated April 2025.

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Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book.

She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

When she's not writing novels, she's teaching other writers how to improve their craft. She's the founder of Fiction University and has written multiple books on writing.

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