One of the key elements of great suspense or psychological thriller stories is a sense of disorientation. When a protagonist doesn’t know if they can trust the people around them – or even their own senses – your reader also can’t know what to expect next. Done well, this creates dramatic tension and drive.
In an article on Writer’s Digest, editor Amy Jones examines a classic suspense story – Ian McEwan’s The Comfort of Strangers – for some lessons learned about unsettling your readers. “Even though I know what’s going to happen, the charged atmosphere, the fraught relationship between the protagonists, Mary and Colin, and the help of a seemingly kind stranger leave me with an uneasy feeling of not knowing who to trust—both in the book and in my own life,” Jones writes. “Which is exactly the point of the story, hinted at by the irony of the title. Do we really know the people we think we’re close to? Can you trust an offer of help from a stranger?”
Jones attributes the success of the opening chapters to three factors:
- The establishment of trust. McEwan uses multiple scenes to establish the intimacy and trust between the two main characters, Mary and Colin.
- The creation of atmosphere. McEwan places his characters in a setting that seems familiar and safe, but where they are strangers.
- The addition of a perfect stranger. When Colin and Mary are lost, the character Robert comes to their rescue, emerging from the shadows to introduce himself. The characters acknowledge the awkwardness of their meeting, and readers are left wondering if the addition of Robert is welcome or ominous.
