Writing Suspense: How to Write Stories That Thrill in Any Genre Skillshare Original
Benjamin Percy
1:16:15
Description
"What's the secret to suspense? I'll tell you later."
Join award-winning suspense mastermind Benjamin Percy (The Dark Net, The Dead Lands) as he breaks down the essentials of writing genre-bending, reader-gripping works. Every lesson is packed with actionable tips, practical skills, and useful advice that will benefit writers of every medium, whether you're working on a novel, short story, or screenplay, or have an idea just starting to take root.
Key lessons include:
- Developing a plot that keeps your reader wanting more
- The Turnstile of Mysteries, or "the dance of the flaming chainsaws"
- Controlling what your reader knows for a thrilling effect
- Building three-dimensional characters with clear motivations
- Entwining the narrative plot and emotional plot of your work
By the end, you'll have the skills you need to design suspense in your work and an understanding of the story math that will, in Ben's words, grab your reader by the throat. Whether you're new to creative writing or a seasoned writer, this class will transform the way you plan, write, and read suspense, giving you the tools you need to grip your readers and keep them hooked.
What You'll Learn?
- Screenwriting
- Comics
- Fiction
- Creative Writing
- Creative
- Short Story
- Genre
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Benjamin Percy
Instructor's CoursesBenjamin Percy is the author of six novels -- The Unfamiliar Garden, The Ninth Metal, The Dark Net, The Dead Lands, Red Moon and The Wilding -- as well as three books of short stories, Suicide Woods, Refresh, Refresh and The Language of Elk.
His craft book — Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction — is widely taught in creative writing classrooms.
He writes Wolverine, X-Force, and Ghost Rider for Marvel Comics. He has also written for DC Comics, AWA, and Dynamite Entertainment and is known for his celebrated runs on Green Arrow, Devil's Highway, Teen Titans, Year Zero, Nightwing, and James Bond.
He has written three ten-episode audio dramas for Marvel. Wolverine: The Long Night was listed as one of the top 15 podcasts of the year by Apple and won the iHeart Radio Award for Best Scripted Podcast. His latest series, Old Man Star-Lord, was listed by Entertainment Weekly as one of the Top Ten podcasts of the year and starred Chris Elliot, Timothy Busfield, Vanessa Williams, and Danny Glover.
His fiction and nonfiction have been published in Esquire (where he is a contributing editor), GQ, Time, Men's Journal, Outside, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Ploughshares, Tin House, and the Paris Review.
His honors include an NEA fellowship, the Whiting Award, the Plimpton Prize, two Pushcart Prizes, and inclusion in Best American Short Stories and Best American Comics.
He co-wrote the film Summering with the director James Ponsoldt, and it premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. He is also collaborating with Ponsoldt at Paramount+ adapting Urban Cowboy as a TV series.
SkillShare
View courses SkillShare- language english
- Training sessions 15
- duration 1:16:15
- English subtitles has
- Release Date 2023/02/15
