Willamette Writers Salem presents Eric Witchey

Character Psychology, Arcs, Suspense, and Tension

When I asked the Willamette Writers Salem Chapter what topic their membership might like me to present, they responded, “Character development and arcs are important. Suspense and tension are always good.” My first thought was, “Those are all related. Why not show how they are connected?” This seminar will demonstrate the connection between changing Character Psychology and the reader’s experience of Suspense and Tension.

Strong main characters normally have a psychological aspect the story challenges—a belief system of the self. That belief system changes from the beginning of the story to the end of the story, Arc. Tension is the sense of unease the reader feels because they perceive escalating stakes and potential impact on characters. Suspense is a subset of tension that relies specifically on the reader’s knowledge of stakes and consequences of which the characters are unaware.

Sometimes, people confuse the idea of stakes with the idea of mortal threat. Connecting Character, Arc, Suspense, and Tension requires us to go well beyond the idea of life-and-death to the development of character-specific stakes that are worse than death. Then, we must allow the reader access to the possible pain of the actual consequences that might be caused by character decisions.

Join us on Wednesday, January 4, we will meet online from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM. Come and play story with us.

Zoom Link

If it’s your first time joining us on Zoom, please see the notes below. Otherwise, register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvdO-hqTojHdwYl3GP5-KBgSe6T7DynGb_

About Eric Witchey

Eric Witchey has sold stories under several names and in 12 genres. His tales have been translated into multiple languages, and his credits include over 160 stories, including 5 novels and two collections. He has taught over 200 conference seminars and classes at 2 universities and a community college. His work has received recognition from New Century Writers, Writers of the Future, Writer’s Digest, Independent Publisher Book Awards, International Book Awards, The Eric Hoffer Prose Award Program, Short Story America, the Irish Aeon Awards, and other organizations. His How-to articles have appeared in The Writer Magazine, Writer’s Digest Magazine, and other print and online magazines.

Web Site: www.ericwitchey.com
Shared Blog: http://shadowspinners.wordpress.com/
Twitter: @EWitchey

About your chapter meetings

Willamette Writers meetings are open to all writers, 18 and up. Guests are welcome to make a donation to help support the cost of the meeting (we believe in paying our speakers for their time and skills). This meeting is run by volunteers. We look forward to seeing you there!

Young writers are encouraged to join our Young Willamette Writers meetings. Sign Up! Any high school or middle-grade writers are welcome to join us. Sign up for our email list at: http://eepurl.com/hRubBf  A registration link will be sent to our email list before our next meeting.

Zoom Details

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Jan 4, 2023 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvdO-hqTojHdwYl3GP5-KBgSe6T7DynGb_

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

IMPORTANT: You have to be logged into your own personal Zoom account to attend this meeting (to create a FREE account, go to Zoom.us).

Once you are logged in to your own personal zoom account, register for the meeting in the link provided above.

On the day of the meeting, log into your Zoom account and then click the link zoom sent you in your email when you registered with the link above. If you are logged into your personal zoom account, you can also click the link above and register again if you need to. If you have not done this before, we encourage you to try logging in a half hour before the meeting begins. We had to change our meeting access because of a few inappropriate guests, but we want to continue to keep our meetings open to the public.