How To Create Suspense In Your Novel: Master Storyteller Reveals Some Storytelling Tips

Dan Brown is an American author most well known for his thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon stories, Angels & Demons (2000), The Da Vinci Code (2003), The Lost Symbol (2009), Inferno (2013) and Origin (2017).

 His novels are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour period, and feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, art, and conspiracy theories. His books have been translated into 56 languages, and as of 2012, sold over 200 million copies.

Three of them, Angels & Demons (2000), The Da Vinci Code (2003) and Inferno (2013) have been adapted into films. Brown's novels that feature the lead character, Langdon, also include historical themes and Christianity as motifs, and have generated controversy.

In a series of online lectures introduced by MasterClass on social media Brown revealed some tips for writers regarding how to write a best-selling novel and how to create suspense throughout your story. Following are those tips according to Brown:

(1) Write as no one is watching you, because no one is watching you; one must feel free when he is starting to write a novel.

(2) Suspense is all about making promises to your readers, telling your reader I know something that you don't know, but I promise I would tell you if you keep going.

(3) Writing a novel is about a process, it is not all about inspiration or craft, there is a tool to turn your idea into a story.

(4) Take the pressure off yourself, every single idea has been done over and over, you don't need a big idea, you need big hows, how do you create tension, how do you build characters, what's the moral gray or red we are writing in.

(5) There are elements that must be in a good story, the contract, the clock and the cursable.

(6) If you are not sure what to write, write the wrong thing a few times and let that be the process by which you find the right thing.

(7) For the secret in the character's back story, write your villain first, because your villain is the one who is going to define your hero.

(8) You don't need to have a total mastery on the subject to start your novel, write until you are ready to show the world what you have done.