“The Art of Suspense” by Ken Follett

I heard this a few years ago and LOVED it. Ken Follett is a master of suspense. Notice how he starts by talking about the emotion produced in the reader and getting readers emotionally involved in a story. He knows exactly what effect he’s trying to product. He also talks about how to determine whether an idea is good enough for a novel. And all this as he describes the interesting form and history of the thriller.

Here are the parts of his speech.

1 Introduction 10 Agatha Christie
2 Erskine Childers 11 Dashiell Hammet
3 John Buchan 12 Dennis Wheatley
4 E Phillips Oppenheim 13 Mickey Spillane
5 Zane Grey 14 Ian Fleming
6 William Tufnell Le Queux 15 After Bond
7 Joseph Conrad 16 Thomas Harris
8 The standard thriller 17 Q&A
9 The psychological thriller

“The Art of Suspense” by Ken Follett–enjoy!

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