Creating the 'Ticking Clock' Effect (minus MC sitting on bomb)

gothicangel

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Okay, so its a suspense query.

Some times M/T/S fiction literally has a plot where the characters are either watching the clock on a bomb ticking or some kind of deadline (i.e. prevent someone else from being killed).

So I started pondering. Suspense is a big element in the genre, so how do you build the same effect without the actual ticking box?

I think my plot is full of suspense, but anyone else might just think 'so what'.
 

Bufty

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Okay, so its a suspense query.

Some times M/T/S fiction literally has a plot where the characters are either watching the clock on a bomb ticking or some kind of deadline (i.e. prevent someone else from being killed).

So I started pondering. Suspense is a big element in the genre, so how do you build the same effect without the actual ticking box?

I think my plot is full of suspense, but anyone else might just think 'so what'.

With the 'ticking bomb' the tension is knowing when the event will occur but not knowing if the clock can be stopped in time.

Suspense is not knowing when the 'feared' event is going to happen, so the greater the threat posed by the event, the greater the suspense.

Accentuating the threat and the apparent inability to deal with it seems to be the key here.
 

Calla Lily

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I did something like this in Better than Nun, a mystery. The book began with a one-page teaser titled '8 Days to Mardi Gras' and I inserted countdown teasers as the plot warranted (7 Days to Mardi Gras, etc.) The last 1/3 of the book took place in a crazy mansion with a massive Mardi Gras party.
 

fenyo

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there are a lot of ways to create suspense. you can easily find a few good ones.

you go an example up here.

if you want to make your own, or you just want to see if you can do it well- let some people read what you wrote and ask what they think about it.
 

BlackKnight1974

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If the countdown is the central theme of the story, then the title of each chapter could be the time remaining?
 

onesecondglance

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With the 'ticking bomb' the tension is knowing when the event will occur but not knowing if the clock can be stopped in time.

Suspense is not knowing when the 'feared' event is going to happen, so the greater the threat posed by the event, the greater the suspense.

Accentuating the threat and the apparent inability to deal with it seems to be the key here.

Bufty has the right of it. This is about creating layers of tension and the feeling that the end goal - which is time or condition-sensitive (think Speed) - is only getting further away as the heroes try to progress. The key is balancing short term goals against the end goal. As the heroes go through those short term points, are they making the end goal harder, or have worse consequences? Does fixing one problem create another?

The countdown effect is useful, but only if it feels like time is running out, not just running down.
 

cbenoi1

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With the 'ticking bomb' the tension is knowing when the event will occur but not knowing if the clock can be stopped in time.

It can also be HOW and WHERE. The Hero can be in pursuit of the Opponent or the other way around. Each events is setup so that the Hero fails to catch the Opponent but gains insights. Those insights can be strictly linear in nature (like clues to the next crime) or can be personal to the Hero or to the Opponent, or all of the above. Gaining insights into the Hero and the Opponents makes for a better story without the need to delve into backstory - the nature of the Hero and / or Opponent comes organically through the prose. Each encounter is a revelation.

If you make each encounter increasingly daring for both Hero and Opponent, then it's not a "ticking time bomb" per se but there is still some element of increasing danger with time. Better if the danger is not only physical but emotional and personal as well. For example, the next encounter could have the Opponent reveal another secret about the Hero, thus making the Hero even more driven to stop the Opponent and willing to take even more risks.

Movie examples: Heat. The Dark Knight, Catch Me If You Can, Point Break, Now You See Me.

Hope this helps.

-cb