How Stephen King creates suspense and conflict
What are his tricks you can apply to your novel? what makes him so good?
In the genre of horror, there are countless writers who’ve published many novels, but somehow Stephen King’s name stands out more than the rest.
But not just horror, he stands out amongst many writers. Since the 1970s his books have sold in the ten of millions. But how? What does he do differently?
Everyone wants to know what his secret is.
in this blog, we will be looking at how Stephen King creates suspense and conflict…
HOW STEPHEN KING CREATES SUSPENSE AND CONFLICT
Table of Contents
He makes the reader the characters in the novel. He pulls you into his novels. You do not feel safe when reading his books. You feel as though the danger is happening to “you,” not the protagonist.
It’s as if Stephen King was the first creator of “virtual reality.” (How ironic that a movie was made based on a short story he wrote called “The Lawnmower Man” about virtual reality.
Mind you the movie was nothing like his story to a point where Stephen King sued to have his name taken off the title of the movie.
He was so upset that the movie was nothing like the story he wanted nothing to do with it.)
PULLS YOU INTO THE STORY
But even as far back as the 1970s, Stephen King was writing in a way that pulled the reader into the story. As though you could look around your living room and the room was “gone.” You were now in the location the story was taking place.
If you were reading “The Shining” you were no longer in your living room but the “Overlook Hotel”. If your phone rang you found yourself pulled back into reality looking around realizing you were in your living room the whole time.
When reading other novels you do not feel so pulled in as you do when reading a Stephen King novel.
He has this ability to put you into the mind of the characters. You think what the character thinks, feel what they feel. You’re made aware of their inner dialogue and emotions.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE INNER DIALOGUE
When something scary is happening to the protagonist you feel as though it’s happening to you. We’re given insight into their motives, actions, the true inner mind of a human.
We feel what they feel. Other authors, will tell you what’s happening to the characters. Whereas Stephen King places you into the mind of the characters
It’s the idea of putting inner dialogue into a story that most writers fail to do. Other authors will write about locations, events, people. Basically giving us a play-by-play of what’s happening.
However we never truly feel “connected” to the inner thoughts of the protagonists. As though there’s a wall between the protagonist and the reader. Stephen King has no wall.
As the reader, “you’re the protagonist.” You’re not safe when reading any of his stories.
THE READER FEELS A DISTANCE
When reading someone else’s book the reader feels “a distance” between the story and themselves. They’re aware they’re reading a book.
They do not feel “pulled into” the story.
By Stephen King letting us have access to the inner thoughts of the protagonist, we can understand them. We may not agree with their actions all the time, but we do understand them.
And this will always be the secret to successful novel writing. By letting the reader know what the characters are feeling and understanding their motivations we can read on.
Keep in mind there is a difference between agreeing and understanding.
HAVING TO UNDERSTAND THE PROTAGONIST
Most novel writers believe they have to make the reader “agree” with the protagonist’s actions by making them likable. But this is false, a reader does not always have to agree with the protagonist.
But the reader has to understand why the protagonist is doing what they do. Even if it’s an evil act.
Stephen King gives us insight into the character’s mind. In the story, “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Repetition we’re given access into the mind of “Red” one of the prisoners in the prison.
We know what he’s thinking, we know his inner thoughts and emotions. We feel as though we’re inside the prison with him. Seeing through his eyes.
We’re not reading about someone in prison, we are in the prison.
HAVE THE STORY HAPPEN TO THE READER
There are no distance feelings between you the reader, and the characters within. The novel becomes real. When you read Shawshank Redemption you cannot help but feel you’re in prison as well.
You are not reading about someone in prison you’re living it. The walls are around you.
Don’t write a story about a dragon chasing after the protagonist. Write it so the reader feels pulled into the novel, as though they’re the one being chased by the dragon.
You do not want a “gap” between the reader and the story. You want the story to be “happening” to the reader.
INSIDE THE PROTAGONIST MIND
In another short story titled, “The Mist” we’re given access into the protagonist’s mind.
You feel as though you’re trapped in the Supermarket with the mystery grey mist outside. You do not feel safe while reading. It’s written in first-person narrative, however, you feel as though the protagonist’s words are your thoughts and it’s your actions. It’s as if the story is virtual reality.
You see everything around you in such detail.
Your average writer would’ve focused on the action, describing the monsters outside in the mist. (which is not a bad thing.) but as a reader, you would feel “a distance” from the novel.
By Stephen King pulling you into the protagonist’s mind and emotions, you suddenly feel as though you’re a part of the story and not just reading about it.
YOU CAN STILL WRITE THIRD PERSON
As a writer remember, the story is not happening to someone else, it’s happening to “the reader.”
(Keep in mind, even though “The Mist” is written in first-person narrative, doesn’t mean you as a writer have to write in first person in all your stories. You can write in the third person narrative and still pull the reader into the story.
The vast majority of Stephen King’s novels are in third person.)
WE FEEL WHAT THEY ARE FEELING
In his short story “Graveyard Shift” we’re given access to the mind of the lead character John Hall. We know what he’s thinking and feeling. Stephen King does not simply tell us what’s happening, he makes the reader “feel” the events.
As though it happening to us. A straightforward story becomes something real and powerful.
In another short story called “The Woman in the Room” we’re given access to the protagonist’s inner mind and emotions on how he feels about his ill mother.
We know how he’s feeling and what he’s thinking as though we’re seeing through his eyes. Your average writer would “tell” the reader what’s happening, but Stephen King makes you “feel” what’s happening.
SEEING THROUGH THEIR EYES
He uses the five senses to make something real. He doesn’t just tell us what’s happening, he’ll paint a picture in such detail you can’t help but see and feel it.
With very few words he will let you feel, smell, hear and see what’s happening.
Interestingly, in most of Stephen King’s stories, we are not given access to what others are doing “off-screen.” We stay with one person and have access to their thoughts.
This is actually the basis of a successful novel. Seeing through a character’s eyes. So we know and understand when their actions do not match up with their thoughts, we understand why.
PEOPLE ARE COMPLEX
Stephen King is aware people have complex minds. Nothing is straightforward.
We have countless thoughts and emotions running through our minds all the time. Nothing we do is black and white. Everything about us is “shades of grey.”
It’s about the complexity of the human mind. People are complex. We wear a mask when out in public. But who we are when alone is different. It’s as if we become different people when alone.
We also have the “daydreamer” in our heads where we picture ourselves doing something we could never do. If we see an action movie we daydream about being the star.
It is the three sides of us that make us complex.
WE HAVE MANY CHARACTER TRAITS
As a writer, you have to look at each of your characters and ask. “Who is my character when out in public, who are they when alone? And what kind of daydreamer are they?”
By understanding these three things you make your character more complex and real.
We cannot sum up anyone with one or two character traits only. We are everything, We’re more than one or two words.
If you were to write down all your character traits, there would be many, not just one or two.
WE CAN UNDERSTAND THEIR ACTIONS
Most writers will only capture a simplistic way of thinking for their characters. But Stephen King will pull you into someone’s complex mind and you’ll see and understand where they’re coming from.
What your average person thinks and what they say might vary at times. In most books, we’re not given access to someone’s internal thoughts.
We know what they say and what they do, but does it match up with their beliefs? We don’t know. But Stephen King gives us access to the character’s mind. So we can understand their actions.
APPLYING PSYCHIATRY
It’s as if Stephen King understands the secret to success as a writer is psychiatry. The more you apply the complex mind to your novel the better the story.
Granted there’s more to writing.
He wrote a book about writing titled, “On Writing.” A book with countless tips that help up-and-coming writers learn how to write.
HE WRITES ABOUT AVERAGE PEOPLE
Stephen King does not do a lot of research before writing a novel. He writes about people in difficult situations. He does not slow down his novels with the small details on how something works.
He likes coming up with “problem” first then creates average everyday people and places them into the story and sees how they’ll get out of the problem. He doesn’t weigh the story down with great details and descriptions of how something works.
He’s more of a panster than a planner.
WE CAN NOT CONNECT WITH INFORMATION
Other writers fill their novels with great details on how something works. They might write about a submarine and study how submarines work for months on end.
Then fill their book with all that information. The problem is the reader cannot connect with “information.”
He has said in past interviews he likes making a list of all the things people are afraid of and using each of them to come up with a story based on it.
He will then take regular everyday people and place them into the story and see how they’ll “get out.” He doesn’t know how the story will end when he starts.
THEIR UNIQUE IN DEALING WITH PROBLEMS
The characters are not superheroes. They do not have special powers to stop the villain. He makes them middle-class people so the reader and identify with them.
So we can see ourselves in the story as though it’s happening to us.
The main characters don’t always agree on things, which adds to the conflict.
Each character has their own personality that will come into play when dealing with the problem.
HE FOCUSES ON THE CHARACTERS
When you look at the story “The Mist” the characters trapped in the supermarket were at odds with each other on how to deal with the problem. They did not all see eye to eye, adding to the tension.
Not only was the threat outside the grocery store but within it as well.
He could’ve spent all his time talking about the creatures within the mist. (Your average amateur author would have). But Stephen King barely spoke of them.
What he did was focus on what the characters in the supermarket were doing and the tension within. How they needed to work together to stay alive, but instead they broke up into groups and turned on each other.
WE FEEL AS THOUGH WE ARE THERE
The story follows the point of view of David Drayton. He wasn’t a superhero. Just a father as he tries to protect his son from the mob within the supermarket they’re trapped in.
By giving us insight into his mind we could understand and relate. We could feel the tension.
The story “The Mist” was a first-person narrative. However, the majority of Stephen King’s novels are not “first-person”. But you feel as though they are.
The way he tells a third-person narrative pulls you into the mind of the character and you feel you’re living the story. (Proving you can write third-person and still make the reader feel they’re inside the protagonist’s mind.)
IT STARTS OFF NORMAL
Reading a Stephen King novel is similar to watching a “Twilight Zone” episode. Rod Serling created regular characters we could identify with. In which “something odd” would happen to the average everyday protagonist and they had to then deal with.
Your average viewer would watch and identify with the lead character, as though the events were happening to them.
When creating a character, Stephen King will speak of the character’s past, and where they came from. Where they want to go, what their dreams are. Making them appear real and drawn out. They were not “created for the story” as most characters appear in other novels.
When you read a Stephen King story you feel as though these people are alive, with a complex mind. Still affected by their childhood, wanting dreams to come true. You can see this in the short story “The Monkey” it feels as though the father is a real person.
IT’S AS IF THE CHARACTERS HAVE ALWAYS EXISTED
Writers should not write a book where it appears the characters “came to life” for the book and “disappear” after the story is finished.
New writers should want all their characters feeling as though they’re alive long before the book was written and will go on afterward. Stephen King will have characters thinking of something from their past or future.
(However, he doesn’t take up too much time doing so, just a few references to the past letting the reader feel as though the character is a real person.)
What’s interesting, he avoids using words like “they, us,” which if used would leave the reader feeling as though the story is happening to “someone else.”
He will write in a way that makes the reader feel as though the story is “happening to them.” As though you’re in the novel. As though you’re seeing through the protagonist’s eyes.
You’re not being told what’s happening to the protagonist your experiencing it for yourself. As though the scary events are happening to you.
YOU FEEL WHAT THEY FEEL
You feel the roller coaster of emotions the protagonist does. You’re not being “told” the protagonist is scared, you feel scared while reading. If the protagonist is happy you feel happy.
When the protagonist has to face off against the antagonist you feel as though you’re going to face off against it.
New writers believe they have to write in first-person mode to make the reader “identify” with the protagonist’s mind and emotions. however, it’s not about writing all your books in first-person point of view.
You can write in the third person, but still, pull your writer into the book. By letting us have insight into the protagonist’s mind and emotions you pull the reader into the mind of the lead character. The reader is not feel distanced from them.
AS THOUGH THE MONSTER IS AFTER YOU
Your average writer will create a distance between the reader and the protagonist.
You read about what they’re doing but at no point do you “feel” anything. You don’t feel sad, or scared or nervous for the protagonist. Stephen King makes you feel as though you’re the lead character. As through the monster in the novel is after you.
He creates characters quickly and out of nowhere in seconds in his mind.
He can see them as though they’re real. Sees everything playing out in his mind like a movie and writes down what he sees. you read it and see it like a movie.
Director Brian de Palma pointed this out after reading “Carrie”. He said it was like a movie script.
YOU NEVER FEEL “SAFE”
When you read “Cujo” you’re trapped in the car. You’re not reading about a woman trapped in a car with her son with a rabid dog, it’s you. It’s written with such detail and insight in the protagonist’s mind you can’t help but feel it’s you in the car with the dog outside. You feel your life is in danger.
You do not feel safe reading the book. It feels like it’s happening around you. Another writer would write about a woman in a car and you wouldn’t feel anything. You would worry for the woman but you’d feel “safe” the whole time.
But in Stephen King’s words, you wonder if “you’ll” be alright.
When you read “Misery” you’re the one trapped in the cottage with the crazy obsessed fan. You’re not reading about a writer who is trapped in a house, it’s you.
Every time you turn the page you’re wanting to see what will happen to you, not the “protagonist.”
DO NOT WRITE YOURSELF INTO YOUR NOVEL
It’s important to remember Stephen King does not place himself into his own stories. He frees himself of putting himself into his own book as so many new writers do.
Amateur writers will make themselves the protagonist either on purpose or subconscious
This creates a problem because now your protagonist will not do anything bad or risky, because you wouldn’t in real life. Your protagonist will play it safe, letting everyone else do all the scary work.
Leaving your lead character to be boring. No one wants to read about a boring protagonist.
GIVE YOUR CHARACTER LIFE
It’s something the writer has to free themselves of. Because if you don’t your protagonist will be your most boring character. They’ll forever play it safe as you would in real life.
They will not put themselves in harm’s way or do something wrong. However, when you no longer are your protagonist you free the character to do what they need to do. Not what you want them to do.
Sometimes the character will do things you may not but it needs to be done. Making for a better read.
IN CONCLUSION ABOUT HOW STEPHEN KING CREATES SUSPENSE AND CONFLICT
- makes the reader the characters in the novel.
- he has this ability to put you into the mind of the characters
- uses five senses to make something real
- seeing through a character’s eyes
- secret to success as a writer is psychiatry.
- list of all the things people are afraid of
- characters are not superheroes.
- created regular characters we could identify with
- They were not “created for the story”
- it’s not about writing all your books in first-person point of view
- does not place himself into his own stories.
you might also be interested n these blogs…
WHY STEPHEN KING IS NOT A HORROR WRITER
PUT YOUR PROTAGONIST IN THE GREATEST DANGER
THE GREATEST SECRET TO WRITING AN AMAZING NOVEL
