Nancy Buchewicz

*The hook (a heartbeat, not a hammer)*

You don’t have to show a blade to make a reader flinch. Dread is a temperature drop, a breath that won’t quite fill, a door that eases wider than it should. When I’m writing dread, I’m not asking, “What’s the worst thing I can show?” I’m asking, “What can I withhold so the reader’s own nervous system does the work?”

*The principle*

Dread = anticipation + sensory Read more of this blog post »