Noir Unit: Revising Suspense

What are we learning?

Suspense?

Impact sentencesCreepy

noises/suspicious sights

Calling out/heart/sweating

Why are we learning ‘suspense’?

• Longer sentences

• Semi-colons; colons; bracketing comma

Set the scene: 6-8

lines

• Impact sentences

• Short (one-line) paragraphs

• This creates contrast

Last part of story

How can I do well?

• Use a range of suspense techniques;

• Include scene of suspense in your timed writing;

• Make the reader feel scared!

• By using longer sentences when setting the scene, have a varied prose style;

• Create ‘spooky’ atmosphere when setting the scene.

How can I be a clever-clog?

• Create a ‘Lewton bus’ effect

• Use a non-linear structure – a ‘flash forward’ (putting the end of a story at the ‘top’ of the page, before ‘cutting back’ to the rest of the story)

Learn more

• Visit http://www.baldworm.co.uk and read about suspense and non-linear structures;

• Visit YouTube and watch ‘Bald Worm on Suspense’;

• Download a copy of the ‘Bald Worm on Suspense’ podcast from the pupil wiki and listen to it on your iPod or computer.