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The Muse and the Marketplace begins this Friday, May 10! Attendee schedules are now frozen for printing; if you did not sign up for sessions in advance or wish to make a change, never fear: you’ll be able to join sessions on the fly as well by checking in with the Session Manager at the door. For completely full sessions, the Session Manager will use their discretion on whether additional seating and/or standing room will be available per fire code. We cannot wait to host you at the Boston Park Plaza for an incredible weekend ahead!
Friday, May 10 • 10:30am - 11:30am
On Tension: How to build suspense in literary fiction
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Stephen King has said, "Nothing is so frightening as what's behind the closed door." For genre writers, suspense is bread and butter. But for writers of "literary" fiction, how do we build the tension that makes readers turn the pages? How do we engage readers without withholding or being coy?

In this craft talk and generative workshop, we'll discuss the techniques of writers who create suspense that pulses under the prose, always close to boiling without ever spilling over. With reference to Katie Kitamura, Antoine Wilson, Roberto Bolaño, and others, we will look at how "literary" writers can use the tools of voice to create suspense that will make your writing un-put-downable.

Presenters
avatar for Courtney Sender

Courtney Sender

Courtney Sender's essays have appeared in The New York Times' Modern Love, The Atlantic, and Slate, and her short stories have appeared in Ploughshares, AGNI, American Short Fiction, and others. Her debut book, In Other Lifetimes All I've Lost Comes Back to Me (2023, WVU Press), was... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 10:30am - 11:30am EDT
White Hill
  Fiction

Attendees (70)