Back to Basics: How to make your memoir’s suspense reader-friendly

 

Donald Maass asks:

 

“Do you hope your [story] can change people

or even history?”

 

Maybe it has never occurred to you that your memoir could change people, and maybe even change history. Some people might think that a story is merely a form of entertainment. That reading is just for fun. Or maybe even an escape—a pleasant distraction from real-life situations.

 

What a mistake that is! Stories can be utterly powerful. Life-changing. Even life-giving. Even life-saving.

 

If you believe—or at least hope—that your memoir can impact people, and generations of your family, as Donald Maass suggests, he continues:

 

“Your hope is not in vain.

It actually can. That power, however,

cannot exist unless and until

a story has a strong emotional impact.”

(Donald Maass)

 

To give your memoir that strong emotional impact, you must include suspense. When readers experience the suspense you did, they’ll keep reading to learn the outcome.

 

And when people keep reading, they will benefit—their lives will change because they read your story. Believe it: Your memoir has the potential to change your readers’ lives.  (See last week’s post, “Make ‘em wait”.)

 

While it’s important to include suspense,

make those passages reader-friendly.

Readers don’t want to waste time with long,

drawn-out moaning and groaning.

 

“Readers don’t buy books that ponder problems,” writes Chip MacGregor. “They buy books that offer great solutions to their problems. So offer good solutions.” (Memorable Words)

 

In MacGregor’s opinion, we should reveal the cause of the suspense—the dispute, the unwelcome surprise, the emotional tug-of-war, the threat, the challenge—in a condensed way. And then we should get on with the rest of the story.

 

But wait! We don’t want

to downplay the suspense

too much, either!

 

K.S. Davis teaches her students (both fiction and memoir-writers) to avoid a “failure to sustain key moments.” That is, moments of tension and suspense and emotion.

 

In some of her students’ rough drafts, Davis discovered key moments “were just going by too quickly.” To remedy that, she advises, “. . . Writers, don’t be afraid to slow down and ‘linger.’

 

“Make sure you are devoting sufficient space to the ‘key moments’ in your manuscript so that they register with your readers. Your writing will resonate much more clearly and vividly if you do.”

 

Davis says we can achieve that by using dialogue, summarizing unspoken thoughts, and using nuance.

 

So, the combined message

from Chip MacGregor and K.S. Davis is this:

Find a healthy balance

in writing passages of suspense

and drama and emotion.

 

K.M. Weiland says it this way:

 

“Stories are about balance. A tale in which there is no conflict is going to be just about as boring as watching condensation dissipate.

 

“But a tale that never pauses to let its characters (or its readers) catch their breath is boring in its own way. We have to find ways to adjust the level of conflict.”

 

You’re probably muttering, “Easier said than done.” I agree. Here’s what I’ve found helpful:

 

I draft a couple of versions of a vignette or chapter and play around with the conflict and suspense. I condense. Reorganize. (I’m so glad we live in the days of computers instead of typewriters! Back in my younger years, if I wanted to change just one word—or even one comma—I had to retype the entire page!)

 

Then I set aside the manuscript for a week or so. Later I’ll take a fresh look at it. By then I will have a better perspective on what works and what doesn’t.

 

Also, if you’re not part of a writers’ critique group, I highly recommend you join one. Just be sure it’s a quality critique group. Not all of them are helpful, professional, and supportive.

 

Write your stories!

And have fun!