SWRT 225 | Fear

October 14, 2021

person typing on MacBook Pro on brown wooden table during daytime photo

Alida and Robert sit down at the Story Works Round Table to talk fear this week. How do we get our readers to feel fear from just the written word? What craft tools can we employ? It’s one thing with a wide-angle narrative lens, but what about a close third POV? We dig into all of this and more!

Love this topic? Join my workshop, Making Readers Fear & Fear For Your Characters on October 24th. Details at www.storyworksfiction.com

VIDEO

AUDIO

SHOW NOTES

What we talked about:

What made Robert want to talk about Fear? (0:43)

The definition of fear. (3:30)

What is the source of your tension? How are you crafting that tension? (4:45)

How to utilize your point of view. (10:23)

How do you create the fear, when you know the character isn’t going to die? (20:20)

How to keep the reader present despite the inevitable ending. (24:55)

Using consequences in addition to stakes. (29:25)

What about when the reader only knows what the character does? (33:38)

Use a lot of different ways to pull on the tension. (38:00)

Don’t give your fear away! (41:10)

LINKS

Get Alida’s Writing Tips here.

Things we mentioned:

Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock’s)
The Lord of the Rings
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Have thoughts, questions, other examples? Join the conversation at the Story Works Writers Facebook group.

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About Your Hosts

Alida Winternheimer is an award-winning author with an MFA in writing from Hamline University. She pursues her fervor for all things story as a writing coach, developmental editor, and teacher. Three times nominated for the Pushcart Prize, she is also a notable in Best American Essays and winner of the Page Turner Award. Author of The Story Works Guide to Writing Fiction Series, Alida lives and writes in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She camps, bikes, and kayaks in her free time. Unless it’s winter, in which case she drinks chai by the fire. You can find more at www.alidawinternheimer.com.

Kathryn Arnold writes fantasy and anything else that sparks her creativity from her home in Kingston, Washington. She currently earns her living as an insurance underwriting assistant, where she also creates marketing and web copy. When not writing, she plays (and teaches) piano and keyboard in a band (or two), and is working on starting a ministry team with her husband. You can find Kathryn at www.skyfirewords.com.

Robert Scanlon was born in Australia, but whisked off to England when only a baby. After many years complaining about the weather, he did the sensible thing and moved back to Australia. Despite a career in the music industry, followed by decades teaching public speaking, Robert is an introvert who adores reading. Robert grew up on a diet of sci-fi masters, eventually discovering he had read the library’s entire science fiction section. Now he has to write his own. Robert is the author of Constellation, book one of the Blood Empire space opera series. Find out more at www.RobertScanlon.com