• Maintain tension throughout your story
• Avoid ‘organ music’ to create story suspense
• Don’t break circuit of suspense when it’s hot
• Avoid inappropriate mystery to create suspense
• Speed up story by curtailing dramatic narration
• ‘Fast forward’ to keep your story moving
• Employ lock-in to ensure you have a story
• Increase story’s suspense through reversal
• BONUS: “I try to leave out the parts that people skip.” – Elmore Leonard
8 Tricks to Writing Suspenseful Fiction
