Thursday, July 4, 2013

Suspense Is Personal Torture

The idea behind suspense is that the audience is given an incomplete picture and is promised that they will be rewarded with the whole thing just by sticking around to the end. Suspense is exciting in its anticipation. You know you're getting a present. All you have to do is wait.

So we have to ask the question: why do people like suspense? There are pretty much two answers here. One is that people enjoy the intensity while waiting to discover the reveal. The other is that people enjoy the release when the big reveal occurs; at last, the picture is complete and all is right with the world.

Both answers are equally valid, but both are equally troubling, too. Those who like the intensity still need the release, and those who like the release need the tension to power it. So no matter which part a person enjoys, they need both parts to truly enjoy suspense.

What is strange to me is that people who enjoy suspense (both in general and as a genre), live in their own purgatory. They want story elements withheld, on purpose, just to agonize over when they will be revealed. No matter how good it may be, either the intensity or the release, it still sounds like a drug to me (and a bit like masochism, too).

Still, I know that some people enjoy the torture. So let them have what they like. As long as they enjoy your suspense, it means you must be doing something right.

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