I was walking across a bridge suspended several hundred feet in the air. A gust of wind brushed past me as if warning me to go back, but I was too far to return. After all, I was now standing in the middle of the rickety structure and it was at least a five-minute walk back to solid ground.
So, I focused on the treetops that I was towering above and not the tiny cracks in the planks that constructed the bridge. See, these gaps let me peek at the creak running underneath where I was standing. The same creak that I would die in if I fell and splashed into its cool water.
What terrifies you? Heights? Snakes? Spiders? The dark?
We all have to confront our fears and thus so must the characters in your story. One good way to entertain a reader is to pick something that a majority of people are afraid of. Take heights for example. Does the thought of skydiving make you shiver? Some would say, ‘no’, but most would probably admit that it does.
Thus, when you make the character inch across a high, dangerous bridge, readers will hopefully cringe, wondering if this will be your character’s last adventure. It only would take one of the boards in the bridge’s walkway to snap and the character could plummet to their doom.
So? What if you’re not writing a horror story? What if you’re not trying to make your reader never want to walk in a reptile store with fear that the creatures inside could get loose? Well, believe it or not, you can still use fear in your story, even if you’re not trying to spook people.
Say you’re writing a mystery. (Which, if you’re reading this blog, then you probably are!) How could you use a scene like the bridge one above in your novel? Fear is a universal feeling and it’s also an uncomfortable one. That’s why most people try to help those afraid of certain things.
For example, if a young relative of yours was horrified by dark, would you constantly be turning off the lights on her? Would you suggest playing a game of laser tag outside at midnight with her? Probably not.
That is also why, when a reader hears about a character’s fears, he will probably be sympathetic to the character when they have to face them, especially if the reader and the character have similar fears.
But how would you include such a scenario in a book and make it fit? Think of the bridge again. Maybe the character is crossing the bridge because he believes there’s a suspect on the other end. Or perhaps the character will find a clue on the bridge that will help the character solve the case they’re working on.
Readers will be more eager to find out what happens next if the character is in a perilous situation. Thus, they will keep turning the pages and remain interested in your book. Now you do have to keep in mind that the right amount of suspense is great for your book, while too much or too little could be harmful.
First, including too much nail-biting can make a reader feel like they’re in a horror story, not a mystery, which is fine if that’s what you’re shooting for, but not appropriate if you were aiming to write a cozy. And second, if you don’t include enough, the reader might come to the conclusion that your reader is fearless and thus, unrelatable.
So, the summary of this post is that using frightening circumstances and putting your characters in dangerous predicaments can be useful in advancing your plot, IF you use them in a way that gives your character personality and keeps the story moving and your reader interested in your story.
-D.P.
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