Increase Suspense: Whisper, Don't Shout OnDemand Seminar

Increase Suspense: Whisper, Don't Shout

It's easy to think of suspenseful moments as loud and aggressive, but silence can be a much more powerful tool to ratchet up edge-of-your-seat suspense. To maximize impact, writers must use silence with a deft hand and deep understanding. How do characters' perceptions of sound create meaning? How does sound reflect setting? How can sound emphasize theme? How does sound create suspense?

Increase Suspense: Whisper, Don't Shout reveals these answers and more to help you create more active, engaging writing.

This tutorial is taught by Jane K. Cleland. Jane writes the multiple award-winning Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery series (St. Martin's Minotaur), which is often reviewed as an Antiques Roadshow for mystery fans. “Josie" stories have also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.

Jane has published four nonfiction books. Jane chairs the Black Orchid Novella Award, is a past chapter president of the Mystery Writers of America, New York Chapter, and served on the national board. Additionally, Jane is the host of the Writer's Room, a series of interviews with authors and industry professionals that appears on cable television and online (BronxNet).

Jane has both an MFA (in professional and creative writing) and an MBA (in marketing and management). She's a member of the full-time faculty of Lehman College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, where she is also the Director of the Program for Professional Communications. She also mentors MFA students in the Western Connecticut State University MFA in Creative and Professional Writing Program and facilitates writing workshops, including Aspiring Writer's Weekend and Memoir Writing, both sponsored by MIT/Endicott House.

In this 39-minute video tutorial, you'll learn to:

• Use moments of stillness and silence to produce more emotionally vital stories
• Recognize and avoid telling rather showing when writing sensory descriptions
• Infuse descriptions of sound with meaning through similes and metaphors