Activity

She had three days to save her family from being killed by the assassins.

Three days to stop their country from losing their only defence.

Three days to live up to her destiny

Three days to survive.

Three days.

 

Countdowns, as a general rule, often add suspense into a story very nicely. Provided that you have it relate well to the plot, having a time limit can really help up the stakes, and the suspense. If you know from early on, that there is going to be a big event happening at a certain time, and you keep getting reminded that the time is running out, it absolutely freaks you out. And that is what we want to do to the readers.

Two great books that used this technique are, A Time to Die, by Nadine Brandes, and In Twenty Seven Days, by Alison Gervais. Both of these books have epic countdowns at the start of each chapter, slowly drawing closer and closer to the event.

You can also use a countdown for shorter sections. The little excerpt I had above is an example on how mentioning a time limit can suddenly make the readers nervous. Not sure about you, but I always check how many pages I have left when a number turns up saying that there’s not much time. And there’s never enough. Very unnerving.

Today’s Task:

Write a 100-500 word snippet to do with a time limit. See how much suspense you can pack into it. Does it fit in your current story?

Enjoy!

@cassie-hartfinh
@esjohnson
@coggleton
@julia
@silverclaw-bonnetfolly
@evelyn
@ariella-newheart
@sarah-vdh
@steward-of-the-pen
@e-jo3
@writercatherine
@thewanderingtypewriter
@jade
@taylorclogston