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Today, Fable and the Verbivore unpack James Scott Bell’s book “Elements of Fiction Writing: Conflict and Suspense”.

We both feel that this is one of the most clearly written and applicable books on the craft of writing that we’ve read to date. The author uses examples from a wide range of media (books across genres, classic novels, TV, and film) to show the many ways the elements he’s exploring can be used to tell stories. He also gives useful exercises to help identify how these writing tools could fit within your own work.

In this episode, we talk about our main takeaways from this book. Such as:

- The reader should have an understanding of what the character hopes and desires

- The stakes of the story need to be clear and should always feel like death - physical, professional, or psychological

- Slowing down and stretching out time in a high stakes scene can be an effective way to stretch the tension and emotion out for the reader

- Interest and suspense can be added to a scene by putting a small obstacle, like a locked door, in the way of your protagonist

- Adding a small disagreement to dialogue can add instant conflict and uncertainty

We’d highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to explore ways to add interest and increase conflict in their work, and who is looking to help keep readers turning pages.

We hope you enjoy this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore