NaNoWriMo Author Advice: Day Eighteen

Mark BillinghamIt’s day eighteen of NaNoWriMo. Crime author, Mark Billingham talks to us about creating suspense… 

Crime writers are often asked how to create suspense. Now, of course there are tricks of the trade and we all use our fair share of twists and cliffhangers. We all choose when and how to reveal key pieces of information. BUT, for me, they key to creating genuine suspense is really very simple. You need to give the reader characters with whom they can genuinely engage. If you do that, if you create well-rounded characters, you will have suspense from the very first page.

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Laura
I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.

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