Disquietude: How to Create Terror and Suspense in Fiction

Readers love the experience of being disquieted by a novel, and some enjoy it when that feeling lingers even after they’ve turned the last page. But how do you generate a sense of disquiet in fiction? And how do you ensure that unnerving story events have subtext and meaning?

In this one-day course with Zahid Gamieldien, author of literary mystery-horror novel All the Missing Children, you’ll learn how to craft scenes of terror and suspense. We’ll look at how these scenes might be structured and discuss how disquieting elements can emerge from the psyche of your character and play a consequential role in their journey of change.

Exercises and group work may focus on: creating a character with psychological depth; generating terror and suspense that’s meaningful for your character and your reader; and structuring and writing scenes that have the capacity to disquiet.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have a stronger understanding of how to use elements of terror and suspense to deepen character, unsettle readers and keep them turning the page.

This writing course, Disquietude: How to Create Meaningful Terror and Suspense in Fiction with Zahid Gamieldien, will be held at Writing NSW in Sydney.