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Key Conditions for Suspense:
Part 19 - Use Patterns & Options, Not Formulas
by John D. Brown
The following is part of a continuing series. If you wish to start at the beginning, head to It’s All About The Reader.
Too Many Variables
The three phases of problem solving form the basic structure of a story that builds suspense in readers. As I said in my last post, we need a bit more detail to translate the three phases into the events and scenes of a specific story. But before we move into those details, I want to take a moment to talk about what I think is the wrong way approach to structure.
That wrong way to is to use formulas for the details that go in your three phases. A formula is a static thing. It’s a specific set of steps you follow every time. So one plot formula might be to structure your story with a 25-50-25 proportion-25% for the presentation phase, 50% for the struggle, and 25% for the resolution. Another formula might be that the structure must show the character change. Another formula might state that you must have a major reversal at the 50% mark. Another one might be that the hero has to refuse to engage the problem, and so the presentation phase must include this. I remember one popular story guru had a formula he taught to screenwriters in which he claimed every romantic comedy required that the two love interests must dance!
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