A hallmark of the thriller is the ticking clock, as the hero races against time to avert catastrophe. However, all stories can benefit from having deadlines. In a new post, Janice Hardy explains why and suggests some ways you can add tension to your novel, whatever your genre.
“If the novel’s problem can be resolved ‘whenever’ and it doesn’t matter when that happens, there’s no sense of urgency to the story,” Hardy says “No urgency lowers tension, and low tension makes it harder for readers to care.”
A ticking clock can help you create that sense of urgency in several ways:
- It raises the stakes. “We care about the detective trying to solve a murder because the serial killer will kill again,” Hardy says. “It’s just a question of when.”
- Readers worry more. When a school kid has to confront a bully on the playground at a certain time, or a character tries to sober up before a special date, readers worry not only about the conflict, but whether the character will rise to the challenge in time.
Hardy suggests reviewing your manuscript for opportunities to create a ticking clock:
- Does your protagonist’s goal have a deadline? “The more important the goal, the tighter the deadline usually is,” Hardy says. “If you don’t see one, that’s a red flag the novel’s pacing is slow, so brainstorm ways to create tension-tightening deadlines.”
- Does the novel have a ticking clock? It should. “You want a certain amount of pressure on your protagonist to act to resolve the novel’s core conflict,” Hardy writes. “This not only keeps tensions high, but it speeds up the pacing and makes it clear to readers why the protagonist needs to solve this problem now.”
- Are there consequences if the tasks aren’t completed? If there are no consequences for failure, there are fewer reasons for your readers to invest. Establish consequences and make sure you follow up on the expected punishment. In addition to raising the stakes, deadlines put stress on your characters, meaning they’ll be more likely to make mistakes. Those mistakes add more complications and obstacles, making it harder for them to meet their deadline, raising your dramatic tension even higher.
If you have a ticking clock, but no consequences, add some. “What price does the protagonist have to pay for not completing the task in time?” Hardy writes. “Who else might suffer? How? What would have turned out differently if the deadline hadn’t been missed?” Be sure to lay out the consequences first, so that they don’t catch the reader by surprise. If your reader doesn’t know the stakes, they can’t worry about them, Hardy explains.
