I would definitely be interested in a post on why you think suspense is overrated! My current theory is that for a relatively short piece (e.g. a 50 minute play in theatre, which i have most experience with) you can make up for a lack of suspense with other things if you're clever about it, but that it's hard to sustain to make a longer piece work (and not get boring) without some form of suspense (not necessarily obvious 'will the world explode' type suspense). In my head it's kind of like constructing a building or something, where for a small building it is possible to do without certain standard structural features if you make up for it by reinforcing others, but for a big building you need the standard structural features to keep it sound. I'm very curious to hear your alternate theory though cos I like how you think about narrative stuff!
This is three years later and so be may no help at all, but my experience is that "we know that this is going to end in Way X, but not how it will end in Way X" is usually pretty good. The protagonist is jail; how did he get there? We can tell from the fact that this is a romance novel the leads will get together, but how will they? We know so-and-so is a murderer, but we have no idea how to prove he did it? That style.
But there's also a kind of inevitability that's entertaining. The audience wants to see these two people kiss, or that bad guy beaten up. Even if that this will happen is clear and obvious, you can build emotional power from it not happening and then discharge emotional power from it happening.
My personal take is that there are other emotions I like to feel while experiencing a story besides anxiety (which is what suspense does to me). To me, suspense can be fun and riveting, but it's not the only thing I come for, and other things (good character development, humour, kung fu, the nice feeling of your favourite people winning all the time) can also entertain me for a long time.
I was trying to think of an example of a longer form work that doesn't rely on suspense, and I think The Name of the Wind might be a good example. You know the main character's reputation and where they end up at the beginning of the story, so there's not a huge amount of suspense driving the reading experience. It's still really fun to read about their creative problem solving and mad music skills though.
Yes! Consider how much more strongly I feel about the question "will Miles continue to be Admiral Naismith" than "will the Cetagandans invade Barrayar." I know the second won't happen. But I also know Bujold will absolutely destroy Miles emotionally at the slightest provocation.
Of course publishing seems not to get this. At any rate I've more than once been rejected for "stakes don't elevate in the last act" when I had the dilemma, "MC lives under religious oppression or loses her family forever." Like how the heck is "everyone might die" bigger than that?
Writers sometimes do write stories in which the heroes fail to save the world:
(spoilers, obviously)
Qe. Fgenatrybir
Qba'g Ybbx Hc
Gur Raq bs Rinatryvba
Svany Snagnfl IV
Nep gur Ynq VV
Sybbq (Fgrcura Onkgre)
Xabjvat
Png'f Penqyr (Xheg Ibaarthg)
Gur Ynfg Onggyr (P.F. Yrjvf)
Qvabfnhef (NOP GI frevrf svanyr)
can you please rot13 those? big spoilers
Ok fine. Most of those are really old though...
I would definitely be interested in a post on why you think suspense is overrated! My current theory is that for a relatively short piece (e.g. a 50 minute play in theatre, which i have most experience with) you can make up for a lack of suspense with other things if you're clever about it, but that it's hard to sustain to make a longer piece work (and not get boring) without some form of suspense (not necessarily obvious 'will the world explode' type suspense). In my head it's kind of like constructing a building or something, where for a small building it is possible to do without certain standard structural features if you make up for it by reinforcing others, but for a big building you need the standard structural features to keep it sound. I'm very curious to hear your alternate theory though cos I like how you think about narrative stuff!
This is three years later and so be may no help at all, but my experience is that "we know that this is going to end in Way X, but not how it will end in Way X" is usually pretty good. The protagonist is jail; how did he get there? We can tell from the fact that this is a romance novel the leads will get together, but how will they? We know so-and-so is a murderer, but we have no idea how to prove he did it? That style.
But there's also a kind of inevitability that's entertaining. The audience wants to see these two people kiss, or that bad guy beaten up. Even if that this will happen is clear and obvious, you can build emotional power from it not happening and then discharge emotional power from it happening.
My personal take is that there are other emotions I like to feel while experiencing a story besides anxiety (which is what suspense does to me). To me, suspense can be fun and riveting, but it's not the only thing I come for, and other things (good character development, humour, kung fu, the nice feeling of your favourite people winning all the time) can also entertain me for a long time.
I was trying to think of an example of a longer form work that doesn't rely on suspense, and I think The Name of the Wind might be a good example. You know the main character's reputation and where they end up at the beginning of the story, so there's not a huge amount of suspense driving the reading experience. It's still really fun to read about their creative problem solving and mad music skills though.
(I know nothing about construction lol)
Yes! Consider how much more strongly I feel about the question "will Miles continue to be Admiral Naismith" than "will the Cetagandans invade Barrayar." I know the second won't happen. But I also know Bujold will absolutely destroy Miles emotionally at the slightest provocation.
Of course publishing seems not to get this. At any rate I've more than once been rejected for "stakes don't elevate in the last act" when I had the dilemma, "MC lives under religious oppression or loses her family forever." Like how the heck is "everyone might die" bigger than that?