Mystery, Suspense, Dramatic Irony

JoAnn Arnold

Interesting. I posted my blog this morning and now its not there,

I'm glad you picked "The Book Thief" up again, Rachael. It was a book well worth reading.

As I do my assigned reading for the 5-day workshop in March, I find little excerpts I want to share with you. The chapter is entitled "Problems and Solutions" We all know that in story telling we must capture the reader's interest, hold it unswervingly through time, then reward it at climax. In order to do so it's necessary to attract both sides of human nature - intellect and emotion.

Curiosity is the intellectual need to answer question and close opened patterns.

Concern, on the other hand, is the emotional need for the positive values of life: justice, strength, survival, love, truth, courage.

Curiosity and concern create three possible ways to connect the reader to the story: Mystery, Suspense, and Dramatic Irony.

Mystery means gaining interest through curiosity alone.

Suspense combines both curiosity and concern

Dramatic Irony creates interest primarily through concern alone.

Of course, I'm giving you Reader's Digest, very condenced version of what I read but I think we all know what these words are telling us. Sometimes, however, studying it in depth, inside a book so filled with knowledge that we need to put everything out of the way so we can concentrate and comprehend what we are reading, (Whew) it turns on a light inside our heads, and we say to ourselves, "I knew that but it's good to be reminded.

Have a good day.