A Key To Writing 'Suspense'

“I often will write a scene from three different points of view to find out which has the most tension and which way I’m able to conceal the information I’m trying to conceal.  And that is, at the end of the day, what writing suspense is all about.”– Dan Brown

Born this date in 1964, Brown has utilized the technique to perfection.  His thrillers exude suspense and his readers flock to them, having purchased well over 200 million copies since his first success, The Da Vinci Code (also a highly successful highly successful movie), burst on the scene in 2003.  Brown's novels are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour period, and feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes and, of course, conspiracy theories.  They’ve been translated into 52 languages, and sold in the hundreds of millions. 

While writing is his life it wasn’t that way until the mid-1990s when he was on vacation, read a thriller by Sidney Sheldon, and decided that’s what he really wanted to do.  Up until then he had been a fairly successful musician, and was a singer, songwriter and pianist in Hollywood, where he also taught music. 

      Brown sometimes uses the real people in his life as models for characters. It’s a a great writing technique and also an answer to that old question: “Where do you get your characters?”

As to the secret to Brown’s successes? “Hard work,” he said.   “I still get up every morning at 4 a.m.  I write seven days a week, including Christmas.  I still face a blank page every morning, and my characters don’t really care how many books I’ve sold.”

Share A Writer’s Moment with a friend or forward the link: http://writersmoment.blogspot.com