Souped-Up Suspense Lesson 3 (FREE)
Setting the Mood (No Audio)
Hello, everyone. Apparently the link I sent out earlier to Lesson 3 doesn’t work. I’m not sure why. It’s possible it might work if you go to my Substack site and click on it from there, but I’m not sure. While I wait to hear back from Substack Tech support, here is the written version of the lesson. No audio, unfortunately, but I’ll try to get that to you soon.
Souped-Up Suspense Lesson 3: Setting the Mood
Welcome back! Hope you’ve enjoyed Lesson 1 and Lesson 2. Have you brainstormed about your protagonist, villain, and plot? Have you written a loose outline? Great! You’re ready for Lesson 3.
Setting
Think for a moment about your macro-setting (for example, the city/town in which your book is set) and your micro-settings (for example, locations where major scenes take place.)
Now think about the tone you’re trying to set: spooky, creepy, ominous, gritty, noir, gothic, etc. How can you use location to set the mood? Are there creepier/darker locations you might use? In my novel I had a scene that took place in the woods, which I later changed to a cemetery for added scariness. I had another scene that took place in a neighbor’s house, and I made the house decorated with taxidermy animals to up the creep-factor.
Often the mood comes from the sensory details your narrator notices (or imagines) in their surroundings. And some locations naturally add tension: two characters having an argument on the edge of a cliff, for example. Or characters trapped together on an island, or snowed-in together at a ski lodge.
Weather is something else that can send out suspenseful vibes. Ominous clouds, the rumble of thunder. Oppressive heat or biting cold. A blizzard, a flood, high winds. You get the idea.
Some great examples of suspenseful setting:
In The Drowning Kind, Jennifer McMahon’s descriptions of a backyard pool are so disturbing, you will feel a pit in your stomach every time a character gets near it.
In Who Is Maud Dixon?, Alexandra Andrews makes the crowded marketplaces of Morrocco seem ominous and threatening.
In Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia employs the spooky gothic mansion-on-a-hill with great success.
In The Guest List, Lucy Foley uses a stark, storm-swept island off the coast of Ireland to up the suspense.
Assignment 1: Brainstorm Your Setting
Make a list of all your micro-settings (locations in which major scenes will take place). You can also add locations you’d like to use, even if you haven’t decided how to use them yet. Now brainstorm the following for each location:
What are some setting details — sights, sounds, odors, etc. — that could add to the ambiance?
What is the main character noticing about the setting? What do they think about where they are? Are they uncomfortable? Fearful?
What is the main character thinking about in this setting? Are they being reminded of memories from their past? Remembering a recent nightmare? Are they mistaking everyday objects for something creepier (a coat rack for a person, for example)?
What is the weather like?
What time of day is it?
How can this location be made even creepier or more ominous? (Lights go out, a black cat appears, a crow begins to caw, etc.)
Is there a sense of being trapped (either literally or figuratively)?
Is there a timing element that makes this setting suspenseful? (The tide is rising, the sun is setting, etc.)
You may even want to write a brief description of each location, including as many creepy/ominous/suspenseful details as you possibly can.
Assignment 2: Make a Mood Board
OK, some might see this as procrastination, but for those of us who need visuals to help with our descriptions, jump online (Pinterest, Instagram, Google search, etc.) and find photos that remind you of your setting and characters. They don’t have to be exactly the way you imagine things; simply choose images that provide an overall vibe of your novel.
Compile these images on a Pinterest board, or print them out and put them on a real bulletin board. Use them to help write descriptions of your setting or to simply get you in the spooky/creepy/dark/suspenseful mood of your manuscript.
Assignment 3: Experience Your Setting
The novel I’m currently working on is set in a fictionalized version of Takoma Park, MD (a very cool, historic suburb of DC with Victorian mansions, Craftsman bungalows and tons of yard art).
I used to go to Takoma Park all the time, but I hadn’t been there for several years, so before I started my big revision, I spent an entire day walking around Takoma Park, stopping periodically to take notes on my phone. I’d forgotten a lot of details about the setting, and walking around helped sharpen and enhance my descriptions. When I sent my revision to my agent, she said she got a really great sense of place, which she said had been missing in the previous draft.
But what about experiencing the scary/suspenseful moments of your novel? My novel begins with a girl waking up in the middle of the night in a stranger’s kitchen— with no idea why she’s there. She’s in her pajamas and bare feet. She leaves the stranger’s house and runs home in the moonlight. To help me improve this scene, I stood in my own kitchen at night with the lights off. Then I ran through my neighborhood barefoot in the dark. Not kidding. I really did this. Both of those activities helped me to describe the sensory and emotional experience of my character.
So that’s what this assignment is all about: going to your settings and trying to experience some of your characters’ situations (safely).
Perhaps in your novel there are some settings/situations that are not safe or practical for you to experience, but for those that are: go there! When you do, imagine yourself as your character —seeing things through their eyes, noticing what they might notice. Take notes.
You can experience your settings without going to the actual location. Do you have a scene that takes place in a spooky forest? Find a woodsy park and take a hike. A scene set in a haunted mansion? Take a tour of a local historical home. Looking to experience fear or stress? Go rock climbing or spend time with your in-laws (ha!) It doesn’t have to be exact, and hopefully it won’t be anywhere near as scary/dangerous as the situations in your story, but physically going somewhere outside of your own house can give you great inspiration for setting description.
Word Choice and Description
The words you use and what your narrator chooses to describe can also set the tone in your novel.
Here’s an example from the first chapter of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn:
The narrator (Nick) compares his awakening to a ventriloquist-dummy. This works on so many levels. For one, I think we can all agree that ventriloquist dolls are inherently creepy. For two, this description is, perhaps, a nod to the pair of frightening puppets that will appear later in the story, and, most definitely, this ventriloquist dummy description alludes to the fact that Nick will soon realize he’s being controlled by his wife and her elaborate scheme.
Nick goes on to describe the sun as an angry god who aims its “long, blaring finger” in accusation. This is not a normal description of a morning sunrise. This description sets the ominous tone of the novel and gives us insight into Nick’s agitated and guilty state of mind.
Here’s another example from Chapter 1 of My Summer Darlings by May Cobb:
This could be the beginning of a romance novel, but notice the word choice: his Chevy pick-up snakes around the block, and he’s dead handsome. Sure, this guy sounds attractive, but he also sounds dangerous, and already the reader starts to fear for the narrator.
Sensory Description:
As you work on your descriptions, try using all five senses. Here’s an example from the beginning of The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon:
What a great description of a creepy backyard pool! We know what the pool water looks like (black), smells like (rot and sulphur), tastes like (burnt matches and rust) and feels like (colder than an ice bath).
Assignment 4: Word Choice & Description
Pick a relatively normal scenario, for example:
watching a sunrise or sunset
walking along a river or lake
going grocery shopping
attending a birthday party
walking through one’s neighborhood
walking through the halls at school or work
Try to describe this situation in an ominous or creepy way:
Select words to set the tone.
Choose details that highlight how the main character is feeling (agitated, fearful, stressed, etc.)
Choose sensory details (aim for all five senses)
Think about how this seemingly-normal situation would look through the eyes of someone who was agitated, fearful, stressed, etc.
Now look at what you’ve written of your novel so far. Are there places where you could use word choice or carefully-selected description to enhance the mood?
Here’s an example from my novel I’m currently working on: a walk through a seemingly-pleasant neighborhood that takes on an ominous tone:
I used to love walking through my eclectic neighborhood of turreted-houses and crumbling stone walls and bizarre yard art: the carved wood totem poles and giant metal butterflies, the stone horses and cats and cows and gargoyles. Wind chimes tinkling from porches and trees. Little free libraries on every corner, all painted in whimsical colors.
I used to love it, but ever since Lorna went missing it makes me nervous to walk alone. Now I look at the wild front yards, riotous with waist-heigh grass and trees choked by honeysuckle, and I don’t think of the bees. I think about how easy it would be for someone to hide in the overgrowth. To jump out from behind the bushes and grab me, take me away to wherever it is that teenage girls get taken. I imagine lecherous eyes watching from behind the thick trunks of the old oak trees, whose arching branches form dark tunnels over the streets.
What do you think? Feel free to share with me your own exercise from this assignment!
That’s all for today! You’re doing a great job. See you next time for our final lesson!