Elements of Fiction Writing: Conflict and Suspense

James Scott Bell is well-known among writers for his useful, practical wisdom on improving our writing and story structure. Conflict and Suspense is the fourth writing book of his I've purchased, the third one I've read, and like its predecessors, it's going to be a mainstay in my writing library.I have two bookshelves of writing books. One is the bulk of the collection, and is just high enough to make getting to them difficult. Conflict and Suspense -- if it were a paperback -- would go on the other shelf, the one to the left of my computer so I can reach it without getting up. I got the Kindle edition, which is even better because I can take it anywhere and pull it out for reference while brainstorming, writing or revising. Bell includes tips for adding and improving conflict and suspense at each of these stages.Bell organizes his material in a logical fashion, each chapter building upon the earlier ones. He varies his examples from other works, and includes enough information that even if you haven't read/seen the work, you understand the example. That's something I particularly appreciated since one of the works (it's both a book and a movie) he used a few times is in the horror/suspense field -- something I don't read a lot of because it would give me nightmares. But I didn't have to have read or seen it to grasp the lessons it contained, and that speaks to Bell's skill as a writing teacher.If you think you write a genre that doesn't require conflict and suspense help, think again. Throughout reading the book, my plot bunnies (the equivalent of King's "boys in the basement") were hopping madly, churning up ideas to deepen and improve the novel I'm revising now. That novel has elements of a thriller/suspense novel, but it also has a big literary/coming-of-age thread. So all of you scoffing at the idea of adding conflict and suspense know exactly which thread those plot bunnies were playing with, right? Wrong. It was the literary one. Sure, the sections with the guns and threats and mobsters got some benefit from Bell's wisdom. But the literary thread got the bulk of the development, and it's really making that thread stronger, putting my poor main character through all sorts of hell because every time he's going to be close to addressing his internal conflict, it's going to give the mobsters more ammunition against him. See? Conflict.Don Maass, in his keynote at the Writer's Digest Conference two weeks ago, explained his concept of a 21st Century Novel, a book that marries the best elements of genre fiction with the best approaches of literary fiction to create unforgettable stories. If you want to write that kind of book, I can't think of a better place to start than to read Conflict and Suspense and apply its lessons and exercises to your own work. Your readers will thank you. Your characters might hate you, though. Their lives are about to get much tougher.

This is a book about the stuff that keeps readers reading. Without conflict there is no hindrance to a character achieving his or her goal, and thus no story. Suspense is a lack of clarity about what comes next that spurs the reader to keep exploring. Bell defines conflict and suspense, and then explores the various means by which these crucial features are conveyed in stories. I say in stories, but Bell is predominantly speaking to novelists with this book.The book is divided into two unequal parts. The first, and larger, consists of fourteen chapters about conflict. The first few chapters describe conflict and how it is set up. Then Bell examines how the many dimensions of writing can be manipulated to fire up the tension, including: point of view, openings, subplots and flashbacks, dialogue, theme, style, and even editing. Chapter 14 suggests some tools that writers may employ to help them ratchet up the conflict.The second, and shorter, part (8 chapters) delves into the topic of suspense. The organization follows a similar progression. First, Bell describes suspense through many potent examples. Second, he moves onto examine the various means by which suspense can be created. With respect to the latter, Bell suggests ways in which dialogue, setting, and style can be presented in order to create cliff-hangers. The last chapter pulls everything together to advise writers on the how to create stories that maximize conflict and suspense. This is in part a summary of the book, but it looks at the process more and the dimensions of writing less, and therefore offers something new as well.Readers of Bell’s other guides may be familiar with the LOCK formulation that he uses in his “Plot & Structure” book. LOCK is an acronym for Lead (an intriguing opening), Objective (a goal of dire consequence), Confrontation (the battle for the objective), and Knock-out Ending (a conclusion that satisfies.) I mention this because one may find synergy in reading other books in the series. LOCK is not as central a concept here as in the “Plot & Structure” book, but it’s nice to have a common mechanism by which ideas are conveyed.There’s not much by way of ancillary material. There are a few simple black and white graphics / diagrams. However, there is one nice feature in the form of an Appendix that analyzes conflict for two novels: “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Silence of the Lambs.” These were good choices both because they represent literary as well as commercial fiction, and because they both have popular movie adaptations. The latter comment might seem like sacrilege to the “the book always beats the movie” crowd. However, using movies as examples—as Bell does here and there—offers the advantage that the average reader will have seen a higher percentage of good movies than they’ve read good books. This is even true for most us who read a ton because relatively few (if any) great movies come out each year and the history of cinema is much shorter. I both enjoyed and learned from this book. Bell uses many excellent examples to support the ideas that he’s presenting, and this makes the book readable and easily digestible. I’d recommend it for writers of fiction who seek to put more zip into their creations.

JamesS Bell as always is an excellent trainer orwriting and this book follow his techings.Very good with lots of  tips and examplesVery useful and recomended for  any-to-be writer

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Every writer needs a shelve dedicated to James Scott Bell advice books, the guys excellent.

Extremely good book. Found it both relevant and useful. Would highly recommend it to any novice writers wanting to learn how to improve their writing.

Does what it says on the tin but it didn't really help me figure out how to fool my readers what the ending was gonna be. Great techniques but don't completely rely on this book.