Guide to Building Suspense l Liam O’Flaherty creates a dramatic setting for the action to unfold.
* ‘Te long June twilight faded into night. Dublin lay enveloped in darkness but for the dim light of the moon that shone through fleecy clouds, casting a pale light as of approaching dawn over the streets and the dark waters of the Liffey.’
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He puts the main character in danger. Tere are things about the main character that we may not like but the author also develops sympathy for him. He is cold and hungry and is clearly fighting for a cause he believes in. Once he is placed in danger, it raises the tension and suspense.
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* ‘He was eating a sandwich hungrily. He had eaten nothing since morning ...’ He creates dramatic action that panics the reader.
* ‘Almost immediately, a bullet flattened itself against the parapet of the roof.’ * ‘Te blood was oozing through the sleeve of his coat. Tere was no pain – just a deadened sensation, as if the arm had been cut off.’
* ‘Te revolver went off with a concussion and the bullet whizzed past the sniper’s head.’
l He uses short, snappy sentences to build towards a dramatic moment.
* ‘He took a steady aim. His hand trembled with eagerness. Pressing his lips together, he took a deep breath through his nostrils and fired.’
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He follows through on the building of suspense and tension with shocking moments for the reader.
* The killing of the vulnerable old woman. * The sniper’s brush with death. * The sniper’s discovery of his brother.
Think of another poem, short story, novel or film that built suspense successfully. Map out how this is done.
1 D
Imagine you have been given the opportunity to interview the sniper several years after the events described in the story. Compile at least ten questions that you would ask him.
198 FIRE AND ICE 2
W6.6
Interviewers should have a mix of open questions (a question that allows the interviewee to provide more information) and closed questions (questions that require only one-word answers).
