Cleland - Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot: How to Write Gripping Stories That Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats

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MASTERING SUSPENSE, STRUCTURE & PLOT. Copyright 2016 by Jane K. Cleland. Manufactured in the United States of America. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by Writers Digest Books, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc., 10151 Carver Road, Suite # 200, Blue Ash, OH 45242. (800) 289-0963. First edition.

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"Vive le ... English" and "Cracking the Code" by Justin O'Donnell. Published with permission granted by the author.

"Mean Yellow Jacket" by G.D. Peters. Copyright 1998 by G.D. Peters. Published with permission granted by the author.

This is for Ruth Chessman, my mother.

And of course, for Joe.

Thank you to the Writers Digest team for their insights and guidance, especially those with whom I have worked most closely: publisher Phil Sexton, managing editor Rachel Randall, associate editor Chelsea Henshey, designer Alexis Estoye, copyeditor Kim Cantanzarite, and proofreader Betsy Ballenger.

I also want to acknowledge my fiction editors: executive editor Hope Dellon and associate editor Silissa Kenney from St. Martins Minotaur, and editor-in-chief Linda Landrigan from Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. Special thanks go to my literary agent Cristina Concepcion.

I also want to thank Paula Munier for suggesting that I write this book, Jean Galiana who encouraged me to tell my mothers stories, G. D. Peters for his insights as to which examples I should include, and all the authors whose work has inspired me.

Jane K. Cleland writes the multiple award-winning Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery series (St. Martins Minotaur), which is often reviewed as an Antiques Roadshow for mystery fans. Library Journal named the first in the series, Consigned to Death, a core title for librarians looking to build a cozy collection, one of only twenty-two titles listed, along with books by Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. Josie stories have also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. In addition, Jane has published four nonfiction books.

Jane chairs the Black Orchid Novella Award, one of the Wolfe Packs literary awards, granted in partnership with Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. She is a past chapter president of the Mystery Writers of America, New York Chapter, and served on the national board. Additionally, Jane is the host of the Writers Room, a series of interviews with authors and industry professionals that appears on cable television and online (BronxNet).

Jane has both an MFA (in professional and creative writing) and an MBA (in marketing and management). Shes a member of the full-time faculty of Lehman College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, where she is also the Director of the Program for Professional Communications. She also mentors MFA students in the Western Connecticut State University MFA in Creative and Professional Writing Program and facilitates writing workshops, including Aspiring Writers Weekend and Memoir Writing, both sponsored by MIT/Endicott House.

In addition, Jane is a frequent guest author at university writing programs, a featured presenter at major writing conferences, a much-loved facilitator at writing workshops, and a popular speaker at library and corporate events.

Like so many writers, my earliest efforts were memoir. I took episodes from my life and wrote them down. There was the time I hitchhiked and the driver of the Cadillac that picked me up lectured me in graphic detail about what could happen if I ended up in the wrong car. The time I nearly killed my sister by tying her tricycle to my two-wheeler so she could go faster.

Like the bike and the trike, I strung the episodes together, thinking that I was writing a book, And though the sentences were perfectly nice, the paragraphs eminently readable, and sometimes I even made myself laugh, Id read enough good literature to know that the incidents were banal and disconnected and the characters were cardboard. Worst of all, my story had no shape.

I thought I could write a book because Id been reading books for years. But all Id done was open a vein and let the words flow. Turns out that a series of episodes is not the same as a storyline or plot.

Which led to my first epiphany: Writing a book is a lot harder than it looks. Boy, do I wish Id had Jane K. Clelands wonderful book to refer to back then. Learning that structure really is king (see ) would have helped me shape my episodic narrative into a cohesive whole.

As I continued to work on that still unpublished manuscript, I experienced many more writing epiphanies, including this one: Its easier to start a book than it is to finish it, particularly if you want the ending to feel earned and satisfying (see Janes ).

It took me a long time and many rejections to learn what readers discover in Mastering Suspense, Structure, & Plot. A novel needs a story arc and its characters need trajectories, and I desperately needed Janes Plotting Road Map, which youll find in chapter three.

Janes advice, like isolate your protagonist, has me tightening my suspense and amping the forward momentum of my own work in progress. Shes given me a new appreciation for red herrings, taking them far beyond mere plot devices. And should my writing gears get stuck from a surfeit of structure, shes got advice for dealing with analysis paralysis.

Even after nine novels, I still struggle with plot and structure. Flying by the seat of my pants, I invariably end up creeping forward and endlessly circling back to second-guess myself. Though Im always happy with the result, its a long ugly process that Janes techniques streamline. Her focus on story structure, plot, and suspense promise to get me there in much less time and with much less mess.

In short, you could write a book about what I needed to know about writing a book, and Jane has done just that. Mastering Suspense, Structure, & Plot is chock full of tips and techniques, insights, and wise advice. Shes anything but dogmatic, saying to writers, "try this and see if it works for you." She illustrates her points with examples drawn from the full range of storytelling genres, from classic literature to modern romance and from memoir to thriller. Clever exercises put her ideas into practice. Her suggestions are both practical and smart.

My tiny office has limited shelf space, but this book Ill keep and refer to again and again. Its a book that should be on every writers desk.

Hallie Ephron is the New York Times best-selling author of Night Night, Sleep Tight