Writer's Digest Novel Writing Conference

In 1962, Alfred Hitchcock and Francois Truffaut discussed their work during a marathon
session that lasted for days. The two great directors and their French/English interpreter barely paused for meals. It was during this conversation that Hitchcock outlined his famous surprise versus suspense scenario -- the bomb planted in the cafe. He used this example to demonstrate that, contrary to popular belief, suspense is far more engaging than surprise.

Here's how it goes:

Say you have a scene where two characters are talking in a cafe, and a bomb suddenly goes off under the table.

The unexpected action will make the audience experience surprise. Your readers' emotional and physiological reactions are likely to be similar to the heart-stopping adrenaline rush a child feels the first time he opens a jack-in-the-box. Can you remember your first time? If you're like most people, you were startled, and for a few seconds the experience was all consuming. You didn't think of anything else; you didn't notice anything else. Your entire focus was on processing what just happened. That's the power of surprise.

Contrast that experience with this one:

You witness a man approach a café where two people are drinking coffee, enjoying a pleasant morning chat. You see the man step behind a column and turn an old-fashioned alarm clock to 1:00. It's taped to a bomb. A clock mounted on a nearby wall informs you it's 12:45. You watch as the clock ticks down the time. Now it's 12:49. The people keep chatting. Now 12:52. The woman laughs. It's 12:57. They finish their coffee. And now it's 12:59.

How do you feel now? If you're like most people, you're holding your breath, waiting for the explosion -- or for a hero to rush in and save the day. This approach, revealing to the viewer or the reader what's going on while the unsuspecting characters chatter on, translates into 15 minutes of suspense. All the immediate explosion bought us was 15 seconds of surprise.

[Don't miss Jane's sessions at the 2018 Writer's Digest Novel Writing Conference in Pasadena, CA, October 26–28!]

The difference between the immediate explosion and the one we anticipate is that in the latter example, we were fully informed. While the surprise flared up, catching you unaware, the suspense slowly burned, drawing you in.

Thus the question arises: If suspense is so much more gripping than surprise, and if the effect is more lasting, why employ surprise at all? The answer provides a twofold peek into the writer's toolbox. First, surprise can spark delight in a reader all on its own, and second, it is one of the most reliable ways to launch your readers into situations fraught with heightened tension -- a cornerstone of suspense.

To keep your readers on the edge of their seats, you need to integrate surprises that lead slowly, inexorably and with deadly calm, to suspense. In order to do so, you need to understand what makes a surprise effective.

The Anatomy of Surprise

There are good surprises, such as an unanticipated visit from a much-loved distant friend or relative, and bad surprises, such as an unexpected cancer diagnosis. Good or bad, all surprises share one key characteristic -- they're unforeseen. Integrating surprise into your stories can delight, intrigue, captivate, titillate, move, worry and/or inspire your readers. The trick is to set up such surprises so they feel fitting, not merely plunked down for effect.
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