What is Suspense?

Suspense is the feeling of anticipation or anxiety that a reader feels while waiting to find out what will happen next. It's the engine of any good thriller, mystery, or adventure story. As a writer, creating suspense is about making promises to your reader—promises of conflict, danger, or a shocking revelation—and then making them wait for the payoff. It's about controlling information, giving the reader just enough to make them ask questions, but not enough to give them the answers right away.

Techniques for Building Suspense

1. Foreshadowing (Dropping Hints)

Foreshadowing is the technique of hinting at future events without giving the whole story away. It plants a seed of unease or curiosity in the reader's mind. This can be done through dialogue, symbols, or even the setting.

Example: A character in a horror story might notice that the old house they just moved into has a single, freshly boarded-up window. The author doesn't explain it, but the reader's mind starts to wonder what could be behind it.

2. Pacing (Controlling the Speed)

Pacing is the speed at which the story unfolds. To build suspense, a writer often slows the pace right down. They use short, simple sentences and focus on tiny, specific details to stretch out a moment of tension, making the reader wait for the action to happen.

Example: Instead of "He opened the door," a writer might use: "His hand trembled. The doorknob was cold. Ice-cold. He took a breath. Turned the knob. It clicked. The door creaked open."

3. A Sense of Danger

The reader needs to know that the stakes are high. By showing that the character is in real physical or emotional danger, the reader becomes invested in their survival and feels anxious about the outcome.

Example: The character isn't just exploring a cave; they are exploring a cave with a dwindling torch battery and the sound of something scraping in the darkness ahead.

Deconstruction & Application

1. Deconstruction (Cultural Example): Read the short paragraph below, inspired by a pūrākau. What techniques are used to build suspense?

The water in the gorge, usually so clear, turned a murky green. A single, huge bubble broke the surface, then another. Rata gripped his taiaha, his knuckles white. He could feel a deep vibration through the soles of his feet, a rhythmic thrumming that seemed to come from the very heart of the stone. The air grew cold, and the birdsong fell silent.

2. Deconstruction (Modern Example): Read the short paragraph below. Identify one technique the author uses to create suspense and explain how it works.

The floorboard upstairs creaked. Sarah froze, her fork halfway to her mouth. It was probably just the old house settling, she told herself. But then she heard it again, this time slower, more deliberate. A soft, dragging sound, like a heavy sack being pulled across the floor. And it was moving towards the stairs.

3. Application: Rewrite the simple sentence below into a short paragraph (3-4 sentences) that is full of suspense. Use at least two of the techniques described above.

A character finds a mysterious box in their locker.

Self-Assessment & Challenge

Success Criteria Checklist

I used short, punchy sentences to slow the pace.
I included specific sensory details (what the character sees, hears, feels).
I hinted at danger without revealing everything (foreshadowing).
My paragraph creates a feeling of anxiety or anticipation.

Challenge Task 🚀

Take your suspenseful paragraph and write the next one that *reveals* what happens. How do you release the tension you've built? Is the payoff surprising? Satisfying? Disappointing? Explain your choice.

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions

Students will engage with this resource to develop literacy, critical thinking, and writing skills, with connections to Te Ao Māori and real-world New Zealand contexts.

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

✅ Students can apply the key skill or concept from this resource in their own writing or analysis.
✅ Students can explain the learning using their own words and connect it to a real-world context.

Differentiation & Inclusion

Scaffold: Provide sentence starters, graphic organisers, and entry-level tasks. Offer extension challenges for capable learners to address a range of readiness levels.

ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key vocabulary before the lesson. Provide bilingual glossaries and allow first-language drafting.

Inclusion: Neurodiverse learners benefit from chunked instructions and visual supports. Ensure accessible formats throughout.

🌿 Mātauranga Māori Lens

Te ao Māori enriches this learning area. Whakapapa (thinking in relationships), tikanga (purposeful protocols), and manaakitanga (caring for all learners) are frameworks that apply as much to literacy and writing as to any other domain. Centre these alongside Western frameworks to honour the full range of students' knowledge systems.

Curriculum alignment

English — Writing: Students will construct and communicate meaning using language features appropriate to purpose and audience.
Social Sciences: Understand how people participate individually and collectively in response to community challenges.